Indy Yelich has released her first single of 2025.
The US-based, New Zealand-born alt-pop artist has today shared “Savior”, which finds Indy revisiting bittersweet memories from a past relationship that she’s outgrown.
“‘Savior’ is a raw and honest breakdown of an unraveling relationship which came to a turbulent end,” she shares. “I wrote ‘Savior’ on a rainy day with my friends while sitting on the floor with a poem and our old texts. When I was writing it, I had the urge to use these keywords: “prey,” “naive,” and “grown.””
As Indy reveals, the relationship in question contained a distressing power imbalance that led to “the feeling of having a guardian, a father figure more so than a boyfriend.”
The lyrics don’t hold anything back. “I’m destroyed but you’re doing fine,” she sings, emphasising their differing reactions to the end of the relationship.
“The end of our relationship was very intense. He broke up with me over the phone on Valentine’s Day, when I was at the airport, about to fly from New York to New Zealand. Flying across the entire world to put out my first EP. I don’t even remember the flight home. I was shell shocked,” Indy says.
Listening to her own single now, though, is cathartic for Indy. “I can hear the relationship breakdown. My youth and questionable choices. There was a girl that needed to be sure she wasn’t evil, and in letting him go, I found her,” she notes.
Indy followed her famous pop star sister, Lorde, into the world of music a few years ago, releasing her debut EP, Threads, in early 2023. The record received a positive review in our March issue from that year.
“Nepotism has been discussed a lot recently, and historically musicians have struggled with the thorny issue more than their acting equivalents. It’s lucky, then, that Indy Yelich, Lorde’s little sister, amply proves her alternative-pop prowess on her debut EP,” we praised.
“While there are certainly some minimalistic sonic touches that recall her famous sibling, this collection of songs shows enough individual promise to indicate that Indy has a strong career ahead of her.”
She followed that up with her 2024 single “East Coast”, which quickly became her biggest hit on Spotify. That track mined similar thematic territory to her new single, delving into the emotional turbulence caused by a toxic yet passionate relationship.
You can listen to Indy’s new single above. Read our 2023 interview with the artist here.
Indy Yelich’s “Savior” is out now.
