Four years on from her summery Solar Power era, Lorde has “finally arrived” with her latest project, the revealing and deeply introspective Virgin. Out on June 27th, Virgin tells us where Lorde has been emotionally over the past few years, diving into feelings about gender, body image and personal identity. To catch you up ahead of the album’s release, we’ve got the scoop on everything she’s been up to since returning to the spotlight.
What Was That?
After teasing a snippet of her new single ‘What Was That?’ on her freshly created TikTok account, Lorde made her bombastic return to music in April, calling New York fans to Washington Square for the song’s debut performance. She filmed the music video dancing alongside these thousands of supporters in the park, already completed for release the following evening.
Immediately peaking in the top twenty of many international charts, and hitting number 1 here in Aotearoa, the explosive song blends gut-wrenching emotional storytelling about moving on from an ex with cutting synths and an experimental drop. As always, ‘What Was That?’ proved Lorde’s next musical era would be an all-new sound for her — she’s never one to do the same thing twice.
Remixing ‘Girl, So Confusing’ with Charli XCX
After Charli XCX’s sixth record brat blew up online at release in 2024, fans heavily speculated her track ‘Girl, so confusing’ described a feud between herself and Lorde. Charli sang “People say we’re alike, they say we’ve got the same hair”, depicting a troubled relationship between two women fueled by media comparisons and different connections to releasing music. And the internet indeed went crazy when the pair confirmed the rumours by working it out on the remix.
As a feature on ‘Girl, so confusing’ when it rereleased for the brat remix collection, Lorde appeared performing alongside Charli at major locations like Coachella and Madison Square Garden. She cites the track’s blunt, diaristic lyrics and Charli’s newfound companionship as major sources of inspiration for her own upcoming record Virgin. The collaboration even won big at the Aotearoa Music Awards, taking out Single of the Year!
Attending the 2025 Met Gala
The Met Gala has always been a point of interest in Lorde’s career. Fashion is one of her favourite forms of expression, but she also pointed it out as an almost dystopian symbol of celebrity and wealth on her 2021 track ‘The Path’. Nonetheless, she returned this year in a bold silver two-piece. The outfit dropped an “Easter Egg” for Virgin with the top looking like a handmade binder, used to make the feminine body appear more masculine to help gender dysphoria. This is a prominent topic on the album, as Lorde describes, “I’m a woman, except for the days when I’m a man”.
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Teasing Virgin at private fan events
Days after her unexpected appearance at a Lorde-themed club night in Sydney, Auckland fans were stunned to receive a mysterious text from Lorde herself on May 28th, randomly inviting them to a secret location in her home town. According to attendees, they gave up their phones to security and entered the darkly lit underground bathroom of the downtown YMCA in groups of thirty. Lorde then emerged from a toilet cubicle, sparking a lighter and dancing to several new unreleased songs in her own intimate night club. As they left, the paper towel dispenser gifted fans a tracklist reveal of the eleven songs on Virgin. Those who made it inside described this as a “religious experience”, acknowledging the Kiwi supporters who have followed Lorde all the way from her debut in the early 2010s.
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Man of the Year
Gender roles and bodily autonomy are at the forefront of ‘Man of the Year’, the latest song released from Virgin. Accompanied by a grimey music video where Lorde bares it all to dissect our limiting views on what’s feminine and masculine, this ballad is slow and introspective until it explodes into an industrial finale. “I didn’t think he’d appear/Let’s hear it for the man of the year”, she croons, celebrating a newfound presence within herself. If it’s any indicator what’s to come, this is sure to be an experimental project that always keeps listeners on their toes.
Planning the Ultrasound tour
With her hotly awaited fourth album Virgin dropping on June 27th, Lorde is also planning a world tour, the Ultrasound World Tour. It’s her first arena tour since Melodrama released in 2017, and features support slots from friends like the Japanese House and Empress Of, as well as Virgin co-producers Blood Orange and Jim E-stack.
This tour will “strip back unnecessary layers” and create a space for fans to truly connect with her raw musical energy. Beginning in Austin, Texas this September and concluding in Stockholm, Sweden in December, New Zealand dates are still expected for announcement further down the line.
Pre-save Virgin here.
