"Yellow Flicker Beat" is a song by New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde released on 29 September 2014 as the lead single from the soundtrack for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 by Republic Records.

Written by Lorde and Joel Little and produced by Little and Paul Epworth, it is as an art pop and electropop song with minimal synthesisers, drums, and vocal samples in its production.

"Yellow Flicker Beat" was well received by music critics, who praised its lyrical content for being more mature than that of Lorde's previous releases.

Commercially, the song peaked at number 34 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and entered the record charts of several nations, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

"Yellow Flicker Beat" was written by Lorde (credited under her birth-name Ella Yelich-O'Connor) and Joel Little and produced by Little and Paul Epworth.

[2] "Yellow Flicker Beat" is an electropop and art pop song,[3][4] with minimal synthesisers,[5] drums,[5] and vocal samples in its production.

[3] Carley noted that the lines, "The scars that mark my body / They're silver and gold" and "My blood is a flood of rubies, precious stones" showcased "a big step towards more mature lyrics" on Lorde's part.

[7] Rolling Stone writer Ryan Reed praised the track's production, writing that it "fits comfortably within the 17-year-old's sonic wheelhouse",[5] while Billboard editor Steven J. Horowitz opined that Lorde's vocals complemented the song's "synth-blotched beat" well, and rated it three and a half out of five stars.

[14] Conversely, Chris Schulz of The New Zealand Herald wrote that "Yellow Flicker Beat" sounded too similar to Lorde's previous releases and lamented the lack of a catchy hook and chorus.

[6] Echoing Schulz's statements, Lydia Jenkin, also from the Herald, noted that while its sound was reminiscent of the singer's early works, it was still "a perfect musical depiction of Katniss Everdeen".

[26] The music video for "Yellow Flicker Beat" was directed by Emily Kai Bock,[28] and was released on 7 November 2014 at midnight (NZDT), when Lorde turned eighteen years old.

[29] Lorde contacted Bock via email after they met through Devon Welsh, the frontman of Majical Cloudz, her opening band on the Pure Heroine Tour.

[30] The video begins with Lorde singing in a faintly lit motel room,[31] with a television displaying static and an unattended running car facing the window.

[33] As the chorus begins, a group of teenagers form a circle and point a flashlight at Lorde as she dances inside a hangar, which critics described as "twitchy" and "witchy".

Halfway through the song, the box was lifted, revealing Lorde wearing a white crop top and black pants outfit to the audience.

[50][49][51] Miles Raymer of Entertainment Weekly gave the performance an A, writing that despite being the show's "most awkward moment", Lorde delivered a "dose of bracing weirdness".

"[56] "Flicker (Kanye West Rework)" was described as a trap[57] and ambient[58] song with bass,[59] piano,[60] electronic drums,[61] and synthesizers in its production.