Lorde talks coronavirus lockdown, new music and helping Kiwi music industry through the COVID-19 pandemic

Lorde has discussed the 'heartbreaking' state of New Zealand's live entertainment industry and addressed rumours of new music in a rare interview amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

The Edge radio station spoke to the 'Royals' singer via video chat for its NZ Music Power Hour last week to raise funds for the Music Helps charity, of which Lorde became a patron in 2018. 

Speaking from her self-isolation bubble, Lorde explained that Music Helps aims to "be there for musicians and for anyone who might need to music to help them in some way".

"At the moment, our touring community has been really affected," she continued.

"I'm obviously not touring this year, but as soon as I heard shows started to get cancelled, that was the first thing I thought about - if it was my crew, it would just be so heartbreaking for them." 

Lorde added that it was difficult for people to understand how many people were affected, because "as a concert-goer, you just kind of show up and see the artist". 

Meanwhile, the 23-year-old musician said she's been keeping busy during lockdown, "baking so much bread, you wouldn't believe it". 

"I'm staying with a girlfriend and we can't eat it all. I'm making vegetable tarts, lemon loaves... there aren't enough mouths," she added. 

When asked by radio hosts Sharyn Casey and Jayden King about whether she'd been making new music, Lorde replied it was "too soon to talk about anything", but added: "I will say that it's been a very productive year for me".