Lorde officially announces fourth album Virgin

The album hits shelves June 27.

By Mary Kate Carr  |  April 30, 2025 | 1:55pm
Photo: Thistle Brown (Chuff Media)
Music News Lorde
Lorde officially announces fourth album Virgin
Introducing Endless Mode: A New Games & Anime Site from Paste

Up to now, Lorde’s work could be described as “thought-provoking,” but less so “provocative.” So it marks a big shift for the pop star to title her fourth album—debuting June 27—Virgin. It comes with some confronting cover art of a ghostly blue-and-white X-ray image of a pelvis with a zipper down the middle and the shadow of an IUD behind. The music, Lorde declares on her website, is “100% WRITTEN IN BLOOD.”

In a similarly all-caps email sent to fans, Lorde teased Virgin‘s album moodboard:

“THE COLOUR OF THE ALBUM IS CLEAR. LIKE BATHWATER, WINDOWS, ICE, SPIT. FULL TRANSPARENCY. THE LANGUAGE IS PLAIN AND UNSENTIMENTAL. THE SOUNDS ARE THE SAME WHEREVER POSSIBLE. I WAS TRYING TO SEE MYSELF, ALL THE WAY THROUGH. I WAS TRYING TO MAKE A DOCUMENT THAT REFLECTED MY FEMININITY: RAW, PRIMAL, INNOCENT, ELEGANT, OPENHEARTED, SPIRITUAL, MASC.

I’M PROUD AND SCARED OF THIS ALBUM. THERE’S NOWHERE TO HIDE. I BELIEVE THAT PUTTING THE DEEPEST PARTS OF OURSELVES TO MUSIC IS WHAT SETS US FREE.“

Per the singer’s website, Virgin is produced by Lorde and Jim E-Stack, with contributions from Fabiana Palladino, Devonté Hynes (a.k.a. Blood Orange), Buddy Ross, Andrew Aged, and Dan Nigro. The latter two collaborators worked with Lorde and Jim E-Stack on the album’s first single “What Was That.” “What Was That” appears to be the second track on the 11-song record. The only other clue we have of what’s to come is from the merch store, where Lorde is selling a hat with a list of traits: “Mystic, Atipodean, Spiritual technologist, Medicine woman, Man of the year.” Clues to a song, or just ways Lorde likes to describe herself? Time will tell. As a bonus fun fact, Virgin debuts one week after HAIM’s fourth album I quit; the artists have been on roughly the same release schedule (within weeks or, at most, two months of each other) since their debut albums dropped on the same day in 2013.

 
Join the discussion...