Lorde opens Glastonbury festival with surprise set

Lorde’s appearance was the culmination of a promotional campaign for her album, which has featured a series of impromptu fan gatherings and pop-ups – including a guerilla video shoot in New York’s Washington Square Park that attracted the attention of anti-terror police.

The record itself is revelatory in its candour. Lorde sings sensitively about eating disorders, body dysmorphia, the end of a long-term relationship and her shifting gender identity.

“Going into this album, I had the sense that something very raw and close to the bone was wanting to come out of me,” she told the Sydney Morning Herald earlier this week.

“I basically felt uncomfortable the whole time.

“When you’re pushing yourself to the bone, or [pushing] to only tell the truth… the only way I can think to describe it is that it makes you feel very alive.”

In a separate interview on Stephen Colbert’s US chat show, the 28-year-old also revealed she had practised MDMA therapy to overcome the stage fright that had plagued her “since I was five [years old] doing community theatre”.

The controlled use of MDMA, also commonly known as ecstasy or molly, has been advocated by some experts in psychedelics, as a way of tackling post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health conditions in a therapeutic setting.

It is currently legal in Australia, and permitted in limited cases in Canada and Switzerland.

Lorde said the six-hour experience was particularly peaceful. “You lay on a bed, you’ve got an eye mask on… there’s some talking,” she told Colbert, adding that the effects were instant.

“I tried everything for my stage fright. I did this therapy and woke up the next morning like, ‘Oh, it’s over. I know it’s over’.”

The festival’s first full day of music will also see performances from CMAT, Lola Young, Alanis Morissette, Loyle Carner, Busta Rhymes, PinkPantheress, Wet Leg and Biffy Clyro. Indie band The 1975 will top the bill.

There will be another “surprise” guest on the Pyramid Stage at 16:55 BST, with Lewis Capaldi heavily rumoured to be making his comeback two years after an emotional performance during which he struggled to finish his set.

The Scottish singer released his new single Survive at midnight.