Lorde’s 4th studio album, Virgin, released a year ago on 27th June 2025, and our ears have been blessed ever since. The record’s lead single, ‘What Was That’, released on 24th April 2025 and caused a pop emergency – because it’s always a big deal when Lorde returns with new music. The intense reaction the Kiwi darling receives from her fans has been this way since 2013 when her breakthrough and popstar-making debut record, Pure Heroine, was released. Describing how it felt watching Lorde (born Ella Yelich-O’Connor) reach international success so young and oh-so quickly was such a special moment in both New Zealand music history and for women in music. Lorde’s identity as a singer-songwriter and artist has flourished over the past decade, now shapeshifting and morphing into the study of oneself on Virgin.
As Virgin reaches its 1 year anniversary since release, we’re taking a moment to appreciate and admire Lorde’s achievements and activities during this album cycle. Between a world tour, festival circuits, award wins and music collaborations, she’s given us a lot to reflect on and be inspired by.
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The first year of Virgin has been a spirited and sultry whirlwind. On initial release, Lorde made a surprise guest appearance during 2025’s Glastonbury Festival on Virgin’s release day – a massive deal because of how wildly popular and beloved the festival is. Lorde’s surprise Glasto set consisted of her playing Virgin in its entirety, sending festival goers into a craze (understandable). The album and its tracklist feel hot, like the apex of summertime, with the singles leading up to the album’s release giving us a taste of that feeling. ‘What Was That’, ‘Man Of The Year’ and ‘Hammer’ all released in the few months prior to the album’s release. ‘What Was That’ was produced by Lorde, Dan Nigro (Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan’s producer) and Jim-E Stack (who was the lead producer of Virgin). Other notable collaborators on Virgin include Fabiana Palladino, Blood Orange, Buddy Ross, Bon Iver and Inc. No World – amongst many others.
Virgin’s sound and vision are tight, as felt through the musical magic makers who helped bring the album to life, and due to Lorde’s openness surrounding her complex yet sacred feelings of the self and what her identity means to her. Virgin’s music videos are notably different from her previous releases; more stripped, bare and raw. You can see Lorde’s willingness to share her vulnerabilities, like in the ‘Man Of The Year’ music video where she’s physically and metaphorically exposed after heartbreak, removing her shirt and bending across dirt inside an empty office. The visual execution of Virgin is minimalist, matching her lyricism and imagery. ‘Hammer’ begins the album with rhythm and a force of energy which rubs off on you. The song’s music video shows Lorde and her friends thriving in London’s summer heat, mirroring the energy her crowds have created throughout the Ultrasound World Tour dates.
The album’s stripped and synthy production is evocative and a testament to her chameleon-like capabilities. Having had a year to sit with Virgin, the album proves that Lorde is able to craft a body of music which is so different from the previous records; yet her DNA is always present. It came as no surprise when Lorde found herself winning ‘Best Pop Artist’ and ‘International Achievement’ at the 2026 Aotearoa Music Awards – a sentimental moment because there’s always something so special and heart-warming seeing Lorde receive her flowers from home.
There are many worthy highlights to point out, such as Virgin‘s closing track, ‘David’, going viral on TikTok despite it not being an official single. The song’s synths pulse alongside Lorde, giving one of her most touching and beautiful vocal performances of her career thus far. ‘David’ is cathartic and has a cinematic feeling to it, like an emotional climax in a coming of age film, and the internet felt it too by using the song as a TikTok trend to depict inner turmoil with oneself and in relation to personal relationships with others. Regardless of external interpretations, ‘David’ feels like a thesis statement on her autonomy over crafting herself, rather than having others dictate who and what she is; something we all feel at various points in our lives.
After her involvement with Charli xcx’s Brat Summer due to their viral collaboration on the ‘Girl, so confusing’ remix, Lorde brought Charli out to perform their modern ode to the intricacies of feminine friendship at Lorde’s Los Angeles date of the Ultrasound World Tour. Other collaborations during this album cycle have included Lorde featuring on both Marlon Williams’, ‘Kāhore He Manu E’, from his 2025 album Te Whare Tīwekaweka, and on Blood Orange’s song, ‘Mind Loaded’, which also features Caroline Polachek and Mustafa (genuinely the coolest crossover of artists). On 11th January we saw Lorde make her Virgin homecoming by performing at Auckland’s Spark Arena to what was a feverish and ecstatic crowd. Nothing feels more electric than seeing her perform at home and that sensation will never fade away.
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Having finished her stadium dates of the Ultrasound World Tour and recently playing NYC’s Gov Ball and Toronto’s All Things Go, the remainder of Lorde’s 2026 is packed with upcoming performances during the Northern Hemisphere summer festival circuit, such as: Mad Cool, Lollapalooza, All Points East and Austin City Limits.
It’s fair to say that when reflecting 1 year on from Virgin’s release, the record not only feels like Lorde’s most intimate body of work (how does one get more transparent than making your album cover a pelvic X-ray?), but also her most bold album too. Then again, if there’s one thing which rings true to Lorde it’s that every iteration of her sound is genuinely so deeply personal and vulnerable that it’ll always make her shine and stand out amongst others. Her dedication to never holding her craft and desires back, particularly as displayed on Virgin, helps us be more open and honest with ourselves through inspiration. Lorde never makes us fans feel alone in our fragility, and we’re forever thankful for her allowing us into her mind.
“Baby, whenever you break me I’d watch it happen, like an angel looking down / It made me a woman, being hurt like that / I can feel, don’t need fantasy / Oh God, if she could see me now.”
