“Yellow Flicker Beat” by Lorde

Lorde's "Yellow Flicker Beat" arrived on 29 September 2014 through Republic Records as the lead single from the soundtrack to The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, and it's a slow-burning war cry. She wrote it with Joel Little, who produced it alongside Paul Epworth, and Epworth handled the mix. The production is spare and menacing, just minimal synths, thudding drums and chopped-up vocal samples, and critics heard it as close kin to her 2013 debut Pure Heroine.

The lyrics trace the rise of Katniss Everdeen, and reviewers praised a more grown-up writer than the one on her earlier releases. Emily Kai Bock directed the video, Kanye West co-produced a rework called "Flicker" with her, and she sang the original at the 2014 American Music Awards. It picked up nominations for Best Original Song at the Golden Globes and Best Song at the Critics' Choice Awards.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.