In 2013, a New Zealand native released her debut EP “The Love Club” and skyrocketed to fame, going not by her real name of Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor, but by the stage name of “Lorde”. Her most famous song, “Royals” defied all expectations, a song criticizing the material luxuries of life and topping charts managed to resonate all over the globe. Lorde had struck millions with her tone of nostalgia for the present, and the most mindboggling part of it all—she was only 16 years old.
Since her initial stardom, Lorde cultivated a strong fan base and released three albums, most recently Virgin. The raunchy name and bright blue imagery of Virgin contrasts sharply with her previous album, Solar Power, an album about connecting with nature and caring for the planet. Virgin feels like Lorde is finally expressing herself fully, rather than pandering to her audience or a certain aesthetic. The vulnerability and stories put into each song create a cohesive journey through Lorde’s personal struggles with gender identity, body image, and toxic relationships. The album is written as a reflection on her past 28 years of life. As a long time fan of Lorde, I feel as though I have grown up with her. So, experiencing Virgin was special to me, for it felt as though she is only now, finally, her unapologetically quirky and authentic self.
Consisting of only 11 tracks, Virgin is a sonically cohesive masterpiece. The opener, “Hammer”, jerks the listener awake with a synth-beat reminiscent of a car with the windows down on the highway. This piece uses machinery as sexual innuendos throughout the song, but it goes much deeper than lust; it also confronts Lorde’s own gender dysphoria. As a gender non-conforming person, it was refreshing to hear a pop artist be so honest about her own identity, confessing, “Some days, I’m a woman, some days, I’m a man”. Another track from the album that stands out against her prior work is “Clearblue”. This entirely acapella piece depicts the complex emotions Lorde felt after a pregnancy scare, delving into her own insecurities with intimacy. Now that Lorde has an IUD, she feels as though intimacy is less intimate without the risk, and therefore she “wish[es] I’d kept the Clearblue” as a reminder of how precious her freedom is to her. “Favorite Daughter” empathizes with the misunderstood eldest child in many of us, with lyrics like, “‘cause I’m an actress, look at the medals I won for ya”. Additionally, “Broken Glass” is yet another upbeat song that delves into her relationship with her body, specifically with her weight. Though covering a variety of triumphs and hardships in her life, the central message is one of self-acceptance.
The lead single from the album “What Was That?”, is a Melodrama-esque pop song with emotionally devastating lyrics. It is speculated that much of this album is written about her old producer and alleged former lover, Justin Warren, who began seeing Lorde as a teenager. The chorus of “What Was That?” is haunting, with Lorde lamenting, “Since I was seventeen, I gave you everything”. This power dynamic is brought up again in her last track “David”, the role she gives herself in the story of David and Goliath. Although she spends much of the song depicting the domineering relationship, the end of the song swells with her announcing “I don’t belong to anyone”. This revelation ends the album with a note of optimism, independence, and letting go of past trauma.
Genre: Synth-pop, Alt-pop, dance-pop
Length: 11 tracks – 35 minutes
Rating: Lorde/10
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