Writer in the Dark

In an exclusive podcast interview with The Spinoff, Lorde stated that she wrote "Writer in the Dark" from the perspective of "something being finished, but still feeling like I had something I wanted to say".

"[1] In a separate interview with NME, the singer said she was inspired to write the lyric, "Bet you rue the day you kissed a writer in the dark" after she woke late one night in a bed she was sharing with a stranger.

[10] Drowned in Sound noted a shift in Lorde's vocals from her "usual semi-growl of a delivery to a much more high-pitched warble",[11] while Rolling Stone compared the track to a B-side from Bush's 1985 album Hounds of Love.

[12] Entertainment Weekly stated that Lorde acknowledges the "trope of the scorned lover" in the song,[13] while No Ripcord said her vocals turn to grief in the lines, "I am my mother's child, I'll love you 'til my breathing stops".

[16] Alexis Petridis from The Guardian stated that while the song was not the first attempt from a modern female singer to channel Kate Bush, "it may well be the first one that doesn't make you want to die of embarrassment on their behalf".

[18] DIY writer Will Richards called the song "flooring, showing her to be one of the most emotionally intelligent pop songwriters around", while NME's Dan Stubbs described it as "deliciously bitter".

[19] Jon Pareles from The New York Times compared its lyrics to Swift and its aesthetic to American singer Lana Del Rey, saying it is "sometimes sparse and transparent enough to accompany Lorde's voice with just a piano note or two".