--- description: The New Zealand singer-songwriter's second single off upcoming album 'Melodrama' is an emotional, simple song about relationships and loss. title: Hear Lorde's Sad, Stripped-Down New Ballad 'Liability' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Listen to Lorde's Stripped-Down New Ballad 'Liability'  by [Raisa Bruner](/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 9, 2017 10:14 PM CUT  by [Raisa Bruner](/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 9, 2017 10:14 PM CUT After bursting back onto the scene with the heartbreak-recovery anthem [“Green Light” last week](http://time.com/4689018/lorde-green-light/ "undefined"), Lorde subtly released the second single off her [upcoming album _Melodrama_](http://time.com/4684837/lorde-new-album-release/ "undefined") on Thursday—and it’s quite a switch-up. “Liability” is a dark, somber consideration of the relationships we accidentally mess up; for Lorde, who has faced the [stress of fame](http://time.com/4560667/lorde-new-music-2017/ "undefined") at a young age, there’s a personal edge to the story. In the stripped-down track, only a haunting piano melody accompanies her voice, which finds a huskiness in its strain, seemingly pushing up against the brink of tears. “The truth is I am a toy that people enjoy/ ‘Til all of the tricks don’t work anymore, and then they are bored of me,” she sings, modulating her voice to convey a certain despair. “I understand, I’m a liability. Get you wild, make you leave.” _Melodrama_ won’t be out in its entirety until June 16\. Until then, we can toggle between Lorde’s two new opposing musical moods: the upbeat power of “Green Light” and the loneliness of “Liability.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4697463/lorde-liability-melodrama/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4697463/lorde-liability-melodrama/"},"headline":"Listen to Lorde's Stripped-Down New Ballad 'Liability'","datePublished":"2017-03-09T22:14:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:41:46.868Z","description":"Lorde goes darker on the second single off her forthcoming album","url":"https://time.com/4697463/lorde-liability-melodrama/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","Music"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4697463/lorde-liability-melodrama/","name":"Listen to Lorde's Stripped-Down New Ballad 'Liability'"}}]}] ```