The fourth studio album by the Kiwi artist was released via Universal Music New Zealand this weekend. VIRGIN is a bold songwriting effort in modern pop music.
Lorde’s 11-track pop album ‘Virgin’ is a heady, raw and vulnerable exploration of emotions that feel familiar in the most visceral, honest way.
Its synths feel heavy-footed and uniquely industrial, while the lyrics pair with melodies and rhythms that make you feel something deeply before you comprehend them.
The album’s soundscape complements this mood with close to sparse, but weighty synths slowly building on each track to create an intense crescendo. This while the lyrics seem to brush past, lines heavy with depth and feel. Lorde and producer Jimmy Stack were able to bring out so much pure, unadulterated and raw depth using sonic momentum and poetic form. The sound seems to linger in your body long after you’ve listened to the album.
‘Virgin’ feels like a free-fall through visceral vulnerability. It feels like a lingering experience begging to be lived in.
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‘Virgin’: ‘Hammer’ – ‘Man Of The Year’
‘Hammer’ starts us off with almost sparse-sounding synths, ones that become grounded and rooted as the song goes on. The intensity of the track builds and builds while our narrator seems to flow through their vulnerability. Pulsing through tension and release before the synths open up fully.
Its lyrics seem to promise vulnerability, urging it even from both the singer and the listener. The song’s intensity also seems to layer and build from this vulnerability. A build that seems to recur throughout the album.
“…I know you don’t deal with love and affection, but I think you can make an exception…”.
Watch the music video for ‘Hammer’ here!
The song’s accompanying music video captures life in snippets, vibrant and whole. The imagery feels provocative and haunting, yet bursting with life, much like the song.
‘What Was That’, on the other hand seems to amp up the percussive quality of the synths more than the last. Its soundscape sounds like a sentimental whirl as we head in, pulling us through with this almost dream-like quality.
It settles in with a groovy, almost addictive quality as it builds.
“…Since I was seventeen, I gave you everything.
Now we wake from a dream, well baby, what was that?…”.
The music video takes on grey tones with pops of white, embracing the city in all its concrete glory. This capturing the theme of the song and album and illustrating it perfectly.
‘Shapeshifter’ starts off quiet and distant. Its lyrics delve into escape and a want for validation. The sound feels hollow, rooting itself somewhere deep, almost familiar. “…No I’m not affected, but tonight I want to fall…”.
The song somehow captures that slippery emotion, borne from the instinct that pulls you towards something you want but also wants you to pull away from that desire.
‘Man Of The Year’ is driven by slow guitars and reflective verse. Its lyrics take on feelings so grand and big, they feel hard to articulate. Its melodies seem to build intensely, fueled by questions that feel deeply profound and extensively vulnerable.
The music video that accompanies it uses movement and simplicity to tell a story that feels rooted in flow. In the video, Lorde explores gender through play, keeping the movements simple yet incredibly poignant and moving.
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‘Virgin’: ‘Favourite Daughter’ – ‘GRWN’
‘Favourite Daughter’ takes on a brighter drone, almost nostalgic. Its lyrics compare what is and what was, exploring the fallout that comes with seeking validation. “….I’m a good actress, look at the medals I won for you…”.
The song seems to address someone close to the singer, but it also feels as though it addresses a collective. Its lines seem to reflect on validation from loved ones and her audience alike. True, raw and vulnerable.
‘Current Affairs’ feels like a stunning spiral, building much like the rest of the album before opening up and dousing you in its mood. There’s a gripping vulnerability to the tracks that feels goosebump-inducing. “…Would you dive to the ocean floor to take my pearl?…”.
It betrays a hidden depth that feels so heavy and familiar.
‘Clearblue’, on the other han,d sounds sparse and minimal. Functioning as an interlude. This, while the track feels laced with anticipation and regret. “… I wish I kept the clearblue, I remember how it feels to be…”.
‘GRWN’ holds onto the visceral vulnerability that’s been prevalent so far, but now bolsters it with confidence. The percussion and rhythms seem to saw their way through the track, while the lyrics seem to reach a powerful realisation.
“…Maybe I can finally find who you want to (be)…
…I can finally find a grown woman…”.
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‘Virgin’: ‘Broken Glass’ – ‘David’
The synths and percussion on ‘Broken Glass’ on the other hand feel muffled and distant. The lyrics come out with this sense of tense frustration edged with painful regret. It’s a song coloured by forceful realisations and a poignant groove.
“….I wanna punch the mirror to make me see that this won’t last…
….It might be months of bad luck, but what if it’s broken glass?….”.
‘If She Could See Me Now’ leans into the poetic, with little blasts of synths pulsing through. The percussion takes on a tinny quality as it builds before the synths and lyrics open it up. This seems to lend the track this airy sense of catharsis.
The final track on the album ‘David’ absorbs every emotion as they all seem to come to a head. The song moves from something quiet and vulnerable to something expansive, syncopated and powerful. The soundscape seems to spiral upwards as it builds, grounding itself in the raw, unadulterated vulnerability that seems to be the cause and root of this album.
‘Virgin’ by Lorde captures halting vulnerability, stark and undeniable. The music on the album seems to capture something special. A familiar set of emotions that feel familiar and present but hard to articulate.
The album is an experience waiting to be listened to and felt. Vulnerable, raw and honest.
To support the album, Lorde is set to embark on the Ultrasound World Tour from September to December 2025.
Listen to Virgin by Lorde here:
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