Lorde dishes about Antarctica and calls her trip to End Of The World ‘cooler’ than VMAs and Met Gala

Lorde has reached the top of the pop music world in terms of both critical and commercial success.

But the New Zealand native has also gotten to experience the rich spoils of the so-called bottom of the world: Antarctica and the South Pole.

And in a new essay for Rolling Stone, the Royals singer and songwriter opened up about her nearly lifelong desire to visit the frozen tundra, and why she found the experience far more ‘cooler’ than any music industry awards show or accolade. 

By her teenage years, Lorde (born Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor) had become enamored by the prospect of visiting Antarctica. But as time went on she also grew more and more concerned over the melting of the continent, due to rising global temperatures.

‘I’ve been obsessed with Antarctica since I was a kid.’ she wrote.   

‘Antarctica’s high drama compelled me. I had to see it before it was too late. And because I’m a pop star, and the world is extremely unfair, I made a few calls, got several dozen booster shots, and I was off in search of the end of the world.’ 

The Melodrama star would end up taking the much-anticipated trip south in February 2019, which she chronicles in her upcoming, first-ever photo book — Going South.

About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice that averages about 1.2 miles in thickness, and only 1,000 to 5,000 people reside throughout the year at research stations scattered across the continent

‘It’s very, very white, everywhere you look. There are hundreds of thousands of penguins. But there are also beautiful rocky beaches, which on a sunny day make you feel like you could have a cheeky swim, until you remember the salt water is at a temperature below freezing. You have to wear sunglasses, every single day. My pen froze in my bag,’ she explained about the conditions.

‘I peed into a bottle in the middle of an ice shelf, fully clothed, using a green plastic instrument called, unspeakably, a Pstyle. I ate so many dense, sweet energy bars I thought my teeth might fall out,’ she continued.  

The environment can be daunting with the average temperature for the third quarter (the coldest part of the year) said to be −81 °F (−63 °C).

‘I stayed for five days, pitching a tent and camping outside, belaying on an ancient glacier, cruising in a helicopter looking for whales with a terse German scientist named Regina. I made a handful of calls home on an old landline — that was the closest I got to my phone,’ the 24-year-old artist said before revealing the impact the awe-inspiring trip had in her psyche.

‘It’s an incredible place. I used to think the Met Gala was cool, or the VMAs. But there’s literally nothing cooler than Antarctica.’

She added, ‘Scientists I met down there who had been making the trip south for 40 years pointed out parts of the Ross ice shelf they witness melting faster and farther every year.’  

Initial pre-orders for Going South reportedly sold out within 10 minutes when it was made available on her online store last month. The 100-page photo book will begin being shipped out in February.

She will be donating 100% of the net proceeds ‘to Antarctica New Zealand to support a postgraduate scholar to study climate change science.’