I think it's pretty safe to say that The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye) comfortably teeters the fine line between glitched-out smooth New Age R&B and hard-hitting Hip-Hop; while the same could arguably be said for 16-year-old New Zealand new-comer, Lorde. Her break-out single "Royals" 1/2 jokingly shouts out semi-common bravado-worthy shit like: diamonds, "gold teeth, Grey Goose... Cadillacs, Cristal, Maybach... jet planes, islands, [and] tigers on a gold leash." But now, the Lorde/Weeknd connection has been further solidified, as Tesfaye recently managed to conjure up and release his own "Royals" remix. My beautiful girlfriend said earlier, and I paraphrase, that it "makes her wanna dance lol and she could [likely] hear this remix in a future movie!"

Following the wide-spread release of her first 2 EP's (Love Club & Tennis Court), Universal Republic plans to unleash Lorde's proper debut album, Pure Heroine between September 27th and October 1st; while The Weeknd's sophomore album Kiss Land will see a September 10th release. Label-mate The Weeknd has ever so slightly morphed "Royals" into a Hip-Hop-leaning Euro-R&B dance jam that almost sounds a little reminiscent of Destiny's Child. Abel Tesfaye decided to go back in and re-record some tasteful mirrored falsetto vocals and additional coo's, which are barely recognizable. Pure Heroine will feature "Tennis Court" and "Royals," along with 8 newly-recorded tracks, which were laid down with New Zealand-based producer/guitarist, Joel Little. Ahead of Pure Heroine's upcoming world-wide release, Lorde is headed out on a short 12-date tour, criss-crossing between New Zealand, England, Australia, and of course state-side from September 7-October 21st.