Chart star Lorde has announced she is releasing her first single in two years.

The Royals singer posted a message on Twitter saying that Green Light would be out on Thursday.

Her post followed a string of cryptic messages on social media, which had triggered speculation about new music.

Photo: PAPhoto: PA

Lorde, 20, wrote: "I am so overjoyed to finally announce that my first single, GREEN LIGHT, is coming out tomorrow at 8am nz / 2pm nyc."

She continued: "I am so proud of this song. it's very different, and kinda unexpected. it's complex and funny and sad and joyous and it'll make you DANCE."

"It's the first chapter of a story i'm gonna tell you, the story of the last 2 wild, fluorescent years of my life. this is where we begin."

Earlier this week Lorde posted a message on Twitter that said: "u hungry?"

The singer-songwriter from New Zealand, who has not released a studio album since her 2013 debut Pure Heroine, followed it up with a link to a web page called imwaitingforit.com.

Clicking on the link took fans to a video of the star in the back of a car, as the words "3.2.17 NYC" and "3.3.17 NZ" appeared.

Lorde also said she would be unveiling the video for Green Light.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.