Lorde has updated fans on the status of her upcoming album.

In a letter, she admitted that the recent death of her dog Pearl has stalled her songwriting abilities.

She explained that Pearl, who she adopted in 2018, passed away last month after battling illnesses. “Pearl had two cardiac arrests about an hour apart, and after the second one, he died,” she wrote. “I was holding him when he went, and I know he knew that I was there. But this loss has been indescribably painful, and a light that was turned on for me has gone out.”

According to her, that loss has altered the timeline for her followup to 2017’s Melodrama.

“He was instrumental to the discovery that was taking place. I felt he led me towards the ideas. And it’s going to take some time and re-calibration, now that there’s no shepherd ahead of me, to see what the work is going to be.”

She finished the letter by saying, “So I’m asking for your patience, as 2020 comes around and you start to wonder where the next record is. I have lost my boy, and I need some time to see the good again, to finish making this for you. It won’t be the same work— as anyone who has felt loss can understand, there’s a door that opens that you step through, and everything is different on the other side. But when this great loss crystallizes inside me, and my chest rebuilds around it, hopefully I’ll be able to finish up, and share it with you, and we’ll all grow together, as we always do.”