Lorde manages fans' expectations after teasing new music

Lorde has explained when fans can expect her new music.

The Royals singer, real name Ella Yelich-O'Connor, returned to Instagram for the first time since August to post a selfie of her listening to music on a set of headphones.

In the caption on Sunday, she wrote, "Listening to myself."

Her fans quickly took the post and her return to social media as a sign that Lorde was preparing to imminently release her next album.

However, she quickly dispelled the speculation and insisted her fans would have to wait a little longer.

"We're not CLOSE close you guys .. i'm just getting so hype n needed to let u know .. start ur excitement on a low flame and bring it up to a gentle simmer .. we building stamina for this chapter (sic)," she wrote in a comment on a fan's post about her photos.

The 27-year-old New Zealand musician released her last album, Solar Power, in 2021.

She debuted two new songs during her set at the Boardmasters Festival in Cornwall, England in August.

Earlier that month, she made a rare Instagram post showing her swimming in a pool in Norway.

"After the show we went swimming.. these times are beautiful and they freak me out and there's so much to tell you," she told fans in the caption. "No this is not the start of anything out there, just want u to know there's a light on inside me .. show it to you soon."