Virgin (Lorde album)

Lorde released her third studio album, Solar Power, in August 2021 to polarising reviews from music critics and the public. In an email sent to fans via her newsletter subscription in 2022, the singer stated that the reception the album received was "really painful" and "confounding" to process at times, while further stating that she had learned a lot about her public image in the year since the album's release. In July 2022, at her show at Roundhouse in London, Lorde told the audience that she was getting closer to writing anthemic pop songs, stating that the "banger will always be on the horizon". The following year, Lorde told Ensemble that she had a "light on inside her" and that she wanted to "move as quick" as she can to release her next album, forgoing her usual long stretches of time in between her album releases. In March 2023, Lorde was announced as the headliner for a series of festivals in Europe. During these festivals, the singer began performing reworked versions of songs from her discography, which included incorporating more electronic elements to Solar Powers original guitar-based melodies; she also performed two new songs, tentatively titled "Invisible Ink" and "Silver Moon" at Boardmasters Festival in the United Kingdom. She also performed at All Together Now in Ireland, Øyafestivalen in Norway, Flow Festival in Finland, Sziget Festival in Hungary, and Paredes de Coura Festival in Portugal. The performances for these festivals received widespread acclaim from critics. This string of performances was dubbed by Lorde as the "night vision edition" of the Solar Power Tour. In an email sent to fans later that year, the singer stated that she was "living with heartbreak again", which publications interpreted to indicate a breakup with New Zealand music executive Justin Warren, a fact she confirmed in a profile interview with Rolling Stone. She also revealed health issues with her gut and skin. In April 2024, Lorde recorded a cover of "Take Me to the River"—originally written by American soul singer Al Green in 1974, but covered by American rock band Talking Heads in 1978—for the tribute album ''Everyone's Getting Involved: A Tribute to Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense (2024). In June 2024, Lorde was featured on a remix of "Girl, So Confusing" by English singer Charli XCX, taken from her studio album Brat'' (2024). In her verse, Lorde discussed her health and body image issues. The remix, included in Charli's remix album ''Brat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat (2024), received widespread critical praise, and featured on various year-end and mid-decade listicles, including the top placement by publications Exclaim!, The Independent, and Clash''. ==Writing and production==

Lorde co-produced the album alongside Jim-E Stack, with additional contributions from Dev Hynes, Dan Nigro, Fabiana Palladino, Andrew Aged and Buddy Ross. Spike Stent and Tom Elmhirst were enlisted for mixing of the record, while mastering was handled by Chris Gehringer. On parting ways with Jack Antonoff, who served as the main co-writer and producer on Melodrama and Solar Power, Lorde stated that she "just has to trust when [her] intuition says to keep moving", though she referred to Antonoff as a "positive, supportive collaborator". electropop, and art pop record that returns to Lorde's "signature" sound. ==Title and artwork==

The artwork, photographed by Heji Shin, depicts an X-ray image of a pelvis with a belt buckle, pant button, pant zipper, and IUD. Lorde said she viewed X-ray, MRI, and ultrasound as ways of capturing "techy but like mystical" images. In an announcement on her website, Lorde, who has synesthesia, stated that imagery of bathwater, ice, saliva and windows influenced her decision to have a transparent "colour" for the album, describing it as representing "full transparency". She further stated that Virgin was her attempt to "make a document" that reflected her femininity, which she described as "raw, primal, innocent, elegant, openhearted, spiritual, masc". Lorde alluded to possible meanings of the title through screenshots shared on her Instagram. She shared it could represent a woman that is "not attached to a man, [...] that is one—in-herself", a result of combining Latin words from man (vir) and woman (gyne) relating 'virgin' to androgyny, or the word to purity as in 'virgin metals'. Lorde would state in an interview that she associates the title as not being representative of sexual purity, but to things that are essential and untainted. Alex Greenberger of ARTnews wrote that the image "speaks to Virgin broader concerns with how much one is meant to reveal of their inner self, specifically when it comes to gender", adding that it also "points up a contradiction: though Lorde has left little of her torso to the imagination, we still can't see aspects of her gender identity." ==Promotion==

, where she performed the full album unannounced On 24 April 2025, Lorde released "What Was That", her first original single release as a solo artist in nearly four years. The song acted as the lead single from her then-unannounced fourth album. An accompanying music video was filmed in New York City, and included footage of a surprise performance at Washington Square Park earlier that week. The Washington Square Park event attracted media attention after it was initially shut down by the NYPD due to overcrowding and a lack of permits required for hosting a public concert in New York City. She announced the 11-track album on 30 April and revealed further information through her social media, detailing the release and contributors. Lorde announced the album's track listing on 28 May. The following day, "Man of the Year" was released as the album's second single, alongside an accompanying music video. On 22 June, five days before the album's release, Lorde debuted the album for fans in the Brooklyn bar Baby's All Right in an event live-streamed on TikTok. The album's marketing style has been likened to guerrilla marketing strategies, consisting of frequent pop-up events in unconventional venues in various cities, including Auckland, Sydney, London, and New York City. Lorde performed the album in full on its release day in an unannounced performance at Glastonbury Festival 2025. Shortly after release, fans reported that the clear CD physical edition, which featured a fully transparent disc, did not work in some systems, including car stereos, portable CD players, game consoles, CD recorders, multi-disc changers, slot-loading players, and older players. Tour On 8 May 2025, Lorde announced the Ultrasound World Tour in support of Virgin. The tour began on 17 September 2025 in Austin, Texas. == Critical reception ==

Upon its release, Virgin was met with acclaim from music critics. The Guardian Alexis Petridis wrote that "the sound of Virgin is noticeably unsettled and rough", and added that Lorde's songwriting remains as "skilful and incisive" as it was on Pure Heroine (2013). In a mixed review, Paolo Ragusa of Consequence wrote that "the challenge of Virgin, especially given its brevity, is that it fails to leave a strong impression" because "even with Lorde's vocal conviction, the melodies often lack stickiness and tend to meander." Year-end rankings == Commercial performance ==

In Lorde's home country, New Zealand, Virgin debuted at number one on the Official Top 40 Albums chart, marking her fourth consecutive number one album. Furthermore, the album also debuted at number one in Australia on the ARIA Top 50 Albums chart, thus earning Lorde her fourth consecutive number one album in both countries. In the United States, Virgin debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, with first week sales of 71,000 album equivalent-units. Of that sum, 42,000 were from pure album sales, which consisted of 31,000 vinyl sales, earning Lorde her largest sales week since her 2017 studio album Melodrama, as well as her largest week on vinyl ever. In the United Kingdom, Virgin debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, moving 18,848 units in its first week, consisting of 12,411 pure sales and 6,437 streaming-equivalent units. The album became Lorde's first number one album in the United Kingdom, and earned her highest first week sales in the country, beating Pure Heroine (2013) by 550 copies. == Track listing ==

Notes • signifies an additional producer • "Current Affairs" contains a sample of "Morning Love", written by Louis Anthony Grandison, Craig Harrisingh, David Harrisingh, and performed by Dexta Daps. == Personnel ==

Credits were adapted from the album's liner notes. Vocals and instruments • Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor – vocals (all tracks), wind chime (track 11) • Jim-E Stack – keyboards (1–5, 7–11), synthesizer (1–6, 8–11), drum programming (1–6, 8–10), OP-1 (2, 3, 6, 11), piano (2, 3, 8, 9), bass guitar (2, 3, 4, 6), programming (5, 7, 11), drums (2), glockenspiel (3), drum machine (5), electric guitar (6), space echo (9), Wurlitzer (11) • Daniel Nigro – synthesizer, bass guitar, electric guitar (2, 9); piano (2) • Dev Hynes – bass guitar, cello (4); electric guitar, synthesizer (5) • Justin Vernon – electric guitar, bass guitar (11) • Andrew Aged – electric guitar (2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10) • Buddy Ross – synthesizer (1, 8, 10); keyboards, piano (1); drum programming (8) • Eli Teplin – piano (4, 5), keyboards (4), synthesizer (5) • Devin Hoffman – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar (9) • Rob Moose – viola, violin (3) • Gabriel Cabezas – cello (3) • Craig Weinrib – drums (3) • Kyle Crane – drums (10) Technical • Jim-E Stack – recording (all tracks), mixing (7) • Ian Gold – recording • Jack Manning – recording • Fabiana Palladino – recording • Daniel Nigro – recording • Devin Hoffman – recording • Austin Christy – recording assistance • Koby Berman – recording assistance • Bailey Kisiak – recording assistance • Kyle Parker Smith – recording assistance • Buddy Ross – additional recording • Rob Moose – strings recording (all tracks), string arrangement (3) • Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing (1–3, 5, 8–11) • Tom Elmhirst – mixing (4, 6) • Matt Wolach – mixing assistance (1–3, 5, 8–11) • Kieran Beardmore – mixing assistance (1–3, 5, 8–11) • Chris Gehringer – mastering • Will Quinnell – mastering assistance Visuals • Eric Wrenn – album art direction, design • Heji Shin – front and back cover art • Talia Chetrit – inside photography • Lorde – project creative direction • Thistle Brown – project creative direction == Charts ==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==