Lorde announces highly-anticipated new album, ‘Virgin’

Lorde has officially announced her highly-anticipated new album, ‘Virgin’.

READ MORE: Lorde’s ‘What Was That’ takes us back to the dancefloor for another emotional, electric journey

Set for release on June 27 via Republic, the new record marks the singer’s first full-length album in four years, marking the follow-up to 2021’s ‘Solar Power’ and promising “full transparency” from Lorde in the latest evolution of her sound. You can pre-order the album here.

It’s a long time in the making, with the first hints of a new era coming with last August’s social media scrub, which saw the ‘Royals’ singer wipe her Instagram and X/Twitter accounts. Fans also noticed the musician’s official website went blank, and today (April 30) was newly updated to share details of the album.

“An album by me, produced by me and Jim-E Stack,” it reads, going on to share Fabiana Palladino, Andrew Aged, Buddy Ross, Dan Nigro and Devonté Hynes were also involved. Per Lorde’s website, ‘Virgin’ was mixed by Spike Stent and Tom Elmhirst, mastered by Chris Gehringer, and “100% WRITTEN IN BLOOD”.

She later elaborated on the inspiration behind the album in an email to fans, writing (via Pitchfork): “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.”

The official announcement follows last week’s release of comeback single ‘What Was That‘ – one of 11 that will feature on ‘Virgin’ – which NME described as “a sibling song to ‘Green Light’, the lead single from ‘Melodrama’”.

“Despite lacking the killer punch, though, Lorde is back dancing in the dark and on emotional, electric form. Here’s hoping there’s more where this came from and that this summer really is a Lorde summer.”

It seems to be well underway, after she previewed the song for fans at NYC’s Washington Square Park last week (April 23) after police had previously shut down a packed pop-up gathering.

Before that, she also shared a voice note with her fans, teasing a new era after making a surprise appearance at Coachella during Charli XCX’s set: “I just wanted to say hi because everything is about to change. These are really the last moments where it’s just us, which is crazy. It’s so right.

“I’m so ready. I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to say that, but I am. I’m so thankful for your patience. I’ve felt your love, I’ve felt you right there. This is going to be crazy, you have no idea.”

The post Lorde announces highly-anticipated new album, ‘Virgin’ appeared first on NME.