Lorde wrote a note to subscribers of her newsletter with an update on her new album, which, she explained, is delayed due to the death of her dog, Pearl. “Pearl had two cardiac arrests about an hour apart, and after the second one, he died,†she wrote. “I was holding him when he went, and I know he knew that I was there. But this loss has been indescribably painful, and a light that was turned on for me has gone out.†The singer had adopted Pearl in 2018, and he passed last month. Lorde goes on to explain that Pearl had creatively inspired much of her new album. “It’s going to take some time and recalibration, now that there’s no shepherd ahead of me, to see what the work is going to be,†she explains. She closes by asking for patience from her fans in the upcoming new year. Lorde’s highly anticipated new album will follow her critically acclaimed second album, Melodrama.