Lorde gets candid about the perils of COVID-19 pandemic

Singer Lorde revealed the COVID-19 pandemic affected her mentally, so much so that she had to battle loneliness.

In a note to her fans in a newsletter on Friday, the Royals singer said 2021 has turned out differently than she expected.

"The pandemic has continued to make things difficult, lonely, or dangerous for absolutely everyone in varying degrees, but outside of that, 2021 has been tough in completely unexpected ways," she began.

"Being away from home at a time where the country's struggling to contain the virus, feeling isolated from friends and loved ones there. Looking out at the country I'm in and feeling estranged from so much of what I see, and knowing it feels as estranged from me," Lorde continued, adding that she is "questioning what I'm doing and why, all the time, on an unprecedented level."

Adding further, the New Zealand-born singer shared with her fans that she is currently living in New York City, where she takes long walks as a way of getting "an interesting cross section of multiple neighbourhoods."

The two-time Grammy winner also touched upon her "decision to step back from social media" — her last Instagram post was shared in mid-June — as "something I've really questioned through this time."

"I was so sure skipping the negatives (compulsive time-wasting, IV drip of dread, satisfying but hollow validation loop) would outweigh missing out on the positives (feeling like part of a community, hearing your sweet words, hitting you back). But I've really, really missed you," she shared in the newsletter.