What does the world think of Lorde's new album, Virgin?
The raw lyrics and themes have mostly received praise but some find the juxtaposition with the production value has missed the mark.
After much anticipation and surprise promotion around the world, Lorde’s first album in nearly four years finally dropped at midnight Friday.
On her fourth studio album, Virgin, 28-year-old Ella Yelich-O'Connor deals with the anguish of skeletons in her closet, from heartbreak to body image and gender identity.
Days before it officially dropped, RNZ's Tony Stamp was given an early glimpse of Virgin ahead of his interview with the musician.
Lorde’s Virgin album cover.
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Stamp's initial thoughts, based on that one-off listen of each song, was that it's "sonically varied".
He wrote: "This suits the album’s themes - rebirth, endings, and beginnings - and what Lorde has spoken about publicly in terms of her self-image, gender, and going through a breakup. There’s an excitement, a feeling that anything is up for grabs, which is palpable. She’s contemplative at times, at others bolshy and sardonic, and frequently anthemic, resulting in a pop album with rare depth, i.e. just what we’ve come to expect."
What other reviewers said about Virgin
Rolling Stone were the one of the first to speak to Lorde about what she was up to in New York after a few years off the radar. In that cover interview the singer unpacked struggles with disordered eating, psychedelic drug use and an “expansive” journey with gender.
The magazine’s assistant editor, Maya Georgi, gave the album 4.5 out of 5 stars, praising the singer for leaning into the “chaos of reinvention” and creating “undeniable pop bangers”.
“In some ways, the album sees Lorde return to the steely, electronic world of dance-forward synth-pop she explored on Melodrama, but the production on Virgin is much more sparse than her sophomore effort. There’s no party to emulate here (either to enjoy or escape from), it’s just Lorde’s signature lower register delivering truth bombs, one after another.”
Britain’s The Times chief rock and pop critic Will Hodgkinson found Virgin to be lacking, saying the record “suffers from synthetic and frankly rather annoying production, and doesn’t hit home in the way it should”.
Hodgkinson gave the album 2 out of 5 stars, feeling it was made with consideration to Spotify listeners.
“David Bowie didn’t hail Lorde as the future of music for nothing; she’s an ultra talented one-off who will unquestionably make classic albums again. This one, though, sounds like the product of someone who listened to the voices all around her, rather than the one lodged deep inside her head.”
The Independent's chief albums critic Helen Brown, who gave it 3 out of 5 stars, wrote it was a shame that the “crepuscular propulsion of mood isn’t often matched by melody”.
“Virgin doesn’t find Lorde back in her finest, most exhilarating form. But it’s a record that sees her heading in that direction.”
NME’s Alex Rigotti, like a few other critics, found some of the production decisions to be “slightly misjudged” but the record, “for the most part, successfully balances exploration with cohesion".
“‘What Was That’ has all the tension of ‘Melodrama’ without any of the payoff, while ‘Current Affairs’ includes some of the most baffling choices on the record…
“But ultimately, ‘Virgin’ is a vibrant combination of Lorde’s best qualities, and then some. With her newfound candour, the record combines the emotional whirlwind of ‘Melodrama’, the chilling minimalism of ‘Pure Heroine’ and the breezy freedom of ‘Solar Power’. This might be called ‘Virgin’, but Lorde proves she’s not afraid to strip herself bare.”
The Guardian’s head rock and pop critic Alexis Petridis gave the album a solid 4 out of 5 stars.
“Throughout, Lorde seems less like an artist cravenly rehashing former glories than one who began her career speaking directly to her fellow teens about stuff that mattered to them – and paving the way for Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo et al in the process – continuing to grow up alongside her fans.
“That’s always a tough job, but one Lorde seems more than capable of thanks to writing that remains as skilful and incisive as it did when she was precociously skewering pop’s obsession with unattainable lifestyles from an Auckland suburb in 2013. Powerful, moving, personal but universal – and packed with bangers – Virgin is the proof.”
