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The Guardian
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Alexis Petridis's album of the week
In April, Lorde launched her fourth album with a brief guerrilla gig in New York. A message telling fans to meet her at Washington Square Park – ostensibly for a video shoot – caused chaos, happily of the variety that gets filmed on multiple cameraphones and goes viral on social media. Thousands turned up and the police shut the event down, but those that evaded them were eventually rewarded by Lorde performing to new single What Was That with impressive gusto given that she was standing on a small wooden table at the time. It was surprising. Lorde's last release, 2021's Solar Power, wasn't the only album of that period on which a female artist who had become famous in her teens strongly suggested that doing so was a living nightmare – Billie Eilish's Happier Than Ever and Olivia Rodrigo's Guts did, too – but it was the only one that sounded like a resignation letter, sent from a beach in Ella Yelich-O'Connor's native New Zealand: 'Won't take a call if it's the label or the radio,' she sang at one point. At another: 'If you're looking for a saviour, well that's not me.' But Solar Power turned out to be merely an out-of-office message. Four years on and Lorde isn't just back, but apparently back in the sharp-eyed party girl mode of 2017's Melodrama. What Was That compares falling in love to the sensation of smoking while on MDMA. 'It's a beautiful life, so why play truant?' she shrugs on opener Hammer. 'I jerk tears and they pay me to do it.' The album features electronics that chatter, throb and regularly burst into fat, rave-y hands-in-the-air riffs, a high proportion of bangers to ballads and a profusion of big choruses. The ballads tend to the epic rather than introspective, with even Broken Glass, the track about the singer's battle with an eating disorder, packing a hook you can imagine a stadium audience singing along to. In that sense, Virgin might seem like an act of consolidation – far closer to Melodrama, since hailed as a modern classic, than the understated and polarising Solar Power. But it seems infinitely more likely that Lorde has reappeared because she's got something fresh to say rather than to reassert her commercial pop bona fides. Despite the talk of pills, dancing and promiscuity, Virgin's overall tone is markedly different. Melodrama was an album concerned with events that happen in your late teens, from experiments with drugs to first major heartbreak. Eight years on, Virgin is haunted by a late-20s kind of angst, born of the sense that you're now incontrovertibly an adult, regardless of whether you feel like one, or whether you're still, as GRWM puts it, 'jumping from stone to stone in the riverbed … looking for a grown woman'. On Shapeshifter, a one-night stand brings ennui and an irrational fear that such behaviour is compulsive: 'If I'm fine without it, why can't I stop?' There's more heartbreak, but this time it's sharpened by the sense that the sundered relationship was meant to be the relationship: the album ends with Lorde repeating the phrase 'am I ever gonna love again?', a sentiment that also lurks around Man of the Year, Current Affairs and What Was That. It's worth noting that the fraught subject matter is invariably leavened with self-awareness and bursts of sharp wit. On Current Affairs, a romantic depiction of love blossoming under a lunar eclipse suddenly turns earthy: 'You tasted my underwear / I knew we were fucked.' Similarly, despite the choruses and the euphoric riffs, the sound of Virgin is noticeably unsettled and rough. The synths are distorted in a way that makes the resultant sound feel corroded; the more ambient textures tend to gust through the songs like drafts of icy air. The melody lines are regularly disrupted by bursts of incomprehensible, mangled vocals that suddenly appear then vanish. The biggest ballad, Man of the Year, builds to a climax that's less uplifting than panic-inducing: the weirdly clipped-sounding drums feel too loud, punching through everything else in irregular staccato bursts; the aforementioned distortion soaks everything, including the vocals; the electronics take on a punishing, industrial cast. 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. Westside Cowboy – Alright Alright Alright A brief, frantic, bracing burst of chaotic, Pavement-ish alt-rock: feedback, guitar riffs that unravel into chaos, all over and done in just over 90 seconds.
RNZ News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Lorde on new album Virgin
This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions. Lorde has a kōrero with Tony Stamp about her just-released album Virgin . Lorde's fourth studio album, Virgin, is out now. Photo: Supplied Featuring singles 'What Was That', 'Man of the Year' and 'Hammer', the album comes four years after the release of Solar Power in 2021. Gossamer textures propel the album forwards. 'Current Affairs' samples Dexta Daps' 'Morning Love' amidst cool, lush synth work and layered reverb-drenched backing vocals. The skipping beat and arpeggiated synth of 'Favourite Daughter' lend a playful air to the song, speaking to the the sonic fluidity and versatility of the album. Gender is a significant theme of Virgin , with Lorde describing herself as 'in the middle gender-wise'. The album cover features an X-ray of a pelvis with a belt buckle, zip and IUD visible. The cover's blue colour reinforces a theme of purity, an idea that prevails through lyrical visual snapshots like 'pure and true', 'broken glass' and 'Clearblue', titling the seventh track, an acapella piece just shy of two minutes. Lorde discusses the creative process of making the album and working with producer Jim-E Stack.
IOL News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- IOL News
Lorde makes a powerful comeback with her new album 'Virgin' after a four-year hiatus
Lorde launches a revealing, rebellious and rejuvenating new chapter with her new album "Virgin". Image: Instagram. After a four-year hiatus, pop sensation Lorde has burst back onto the music scene with her highly anticipated fourth album, "Virgin". Released on Friday, June 27, the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter has filled her latest album with raw honesty and vulnerability. "Virgin" arrives as a follow-up to her indie-folk project, "Solar Power", and is the culmination of a transformative period for Lorde, who described the writing process as both a personal exploration and a creative rebirth. Collaborating closely with producer Jim-E Stack, along with contributors like Dev Hynes and Daniel Nigro, Lorde carefully crafted each track over the past couple of years in cityscapes from London to New York. "What Was That", a powerful break-up anthem, is the album's lead single. It further unfolds with tracks such as "Man of the Year", "Shapeshifter", "Broken Glass" and "Hammer". Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ Notably, "Hammer" is offered as a bold declaration of her evolving gender identity, where she openly reveals, "Some days I'm a woman, some days I'm a man."
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Lorde's ‘Virgin': All 11 Tracks Ranked
When a pop artist follows a specific release pattern over the course of their career, it's easy to assume that a new album and corresponding promotional cycle are all part of a pre-ordained plan, meant to deliver fresh art for more commerce at regular intervals. That's why, when 2025 began, a new Lorde album and tour felt like safe bets for the calendar year — considering that, since she was a teen prodigy from New Zealand, she had released a full-length every four years, followed by an extended live run and then a period relatively out of the spotlight, until she returned four years later. Her last album, Solar Power, came out in 2021. We just knew that this particular pop comet was due to re-enter our orbit soon enough. More from Billboard Lorde Summer Is Upon Us As Pop Star Releases Latest Album 'Virgin': Stream It Now The Beach Boys Back in Top 40 for First Time in Over a Decade on Billboard 200 Chart Lalo Schifrin, Composer of the Classic 'Mission: Impossible' Theme, Dies at 93 But artists do not create like clockwork, and behind the scenes, Lorde, now 28, was wondering not whether she would release a new album on schedule, but if she would release one at all. 'In 2023 I thought for sure I didn't have any more music in me and all this was over,' she wrote on Instagram two days before the release of her fourth album, Virgin. The promotional campaign for this album has involved tales of a bitter breakup and body dysmorphia, creeping feelings of stage fright and questions about her gender identity. Instead of retreating from the intimate pressure points and personal changes that have defined her mid-twenties, she poured them into a new album, and is now hoisting them up for the world to see. One listen to Lorde's Virgin confirms that it is by far the bravest album of her career. Yet repeated plays showcase the expertly crafted nuances of the project — which Lorde largely created with producer Jim-E Stack, and which was deeply informed by the concrete rhythms of New York City. Gone are the sun-kissed arrangements of Solar Power, replaced by raw, brawny beats; Virgin is dominated by drums, and sometimes the songs bend in service of their percussion more than Lorde's voice. Whether she's singing about pain, enlightenment or their symbiotic relationship, however, Lorde remains an authoritative pop singer-songwriter, brimming with piercing lines and always delivering them with expressive care. The style and subjects may shift, but the fundamental, self-possessed talent does not. Virgin is a knowingly messy album, full of left-turn song structures, untamed physicality and giant rhetorical questions placed in small, hushed sequences. The path between albums three and four was not an easy one for Lorde, but that journey resulted in an artistic shake-up that's downright triumphant. Whether her next project is four years, four months or forty years away, Lorde remains a pop artist worth investing in, now and long-term. Below, see Billboard's preliminary ranking of the 11 songs from Lorde's Virgin. If the explicit sample of Jamaican veteran Dexta Daps' 2014 single 'Morning Love' didn't make it clear, 'Current Affairs' is an evocative sex rumination, full of spit, moans, underwear and beds on fire — but just as immediate is Lorde's wounded delivery, with several syllables elongated as she tries to navigate physical and emotional entanglements. 'Current Affairs' works as a different shade of Lorde's pop songwriting; simply put, she's never delivered a chorus quite like this one. A little over a year after The Tortured Poets Department, Lorde riffs on the idea of healing from a breakup at the gym, although she's far from down bad: 'Yesterday,' she asserts, 'I lifted your body weight.' 'If She Could See Me Now' tackles disassociation within a toxic relationship, moving on from memories by replaying them over and over until the pain has been sucked out; the synthesizers mirror the healing, opening as a dissonant thud before smoothing out into an airy chord progression. The ballads on Lorde's previous album somehow haven't been as quiet, or as loud, as 'Man of the Year': the song's opening pairs her voice with a plucked bass string and nothing else, allowing the pop star to glide through melismas and wax poetic about embracing gender fluidity, but then things ramp up to a buzzing, ecstatic cacophony in the final 45 seconds before the song collapses. With 'Man of the Year,' Lorde has complemented the frank subject matter with an arrangement that's just as daring — this will be the one that bowls people over when performed live. Lorde began her first album by singing, 'Pretty soon, I'll be getting on my first plane'; a dozen years have passed, and she now calls New York City home, half a world away from the country where she grew up. Yet as Lorde sings to her mother over the blown-out drums and stray production effects of 'Favourite Daughter,' 'Everywhere I run, I'm always runnin' to ya': she's still chasing her parent's approval all this time later, and giving her audience a more in-depth portrait of her upbringing and familial bonds. Lorde closes out Virgin with its most vulnerable moment: she gets close to the microphone as the production falls away, and repeats, 'Am I ever gonna love again?' The question follows a caustic examination of a partner who failed her, and the realization that her identity doesn't belong to another person — and yet, after all the fluttering sound effects stop circling her voice, she's still left with that six-word question. 'David' works well as a closer, stripping away all artifice to show that, even in a moment of intense self-discovery, there are no easy answers for Lorde. Lorde has talked about the desire for Virgin to convey a greater sense of physicality, and 'Hammer' opens the album with an urgent, sinewy buzz, before Lorde eventually lets the propulsion of the production serve as the song's hook. In between, she expresses the freedom of feeling human with succinct clarity: 'I'm ready to feel like I don't have the answers / There's peace in the madness over our heads,' she sings. Immediately following a pair of songs about sex complexities on the Virgin track list, Lorde turns to face herself on 'GRWM,' recalls of one the most joyful moments of her childhood, and wonders when she will finally feel like a grown woman. Beginning with soft keys and lilting melodies that would have sounded at home on Melodrama, 'GRWM' comes into its own by its first chorus, where the warmth of Lorde's voice is juxtaposed with crushed, harshed-buzz percussion and swirling, technicolor synthesizers. None of Lorde's lead singles play it remotely safe — even 'Royals,' the most traditional of the four, upended expectations for how hollowed-out a smash hit could sound — but 'What Was That' is particularly improbable as an anthem, considering that its primary hook is a squiggly post-chorus instrumental, its beat keeps changing shape, and the first word in the chorus is 'MDMA.' Within the context of Virgin, though, 'What Was That' hits even harder than as a standalone single, with Lorde's post-breakup liberation setting the table for the even more revealing courses to come. In under two minutes, Lorde presents a vivid, emotionally fraught scene of sexual ecstasy and the post-coitus uncertainty involving a pregnancy test; timelines and feelings overlap, the generations of women before Lorde exist within her blood during a pivotal moment, her voice is heavily process and she repeats, 'I'm free, I'm free,' before knowing exactly what she might be. Sparse and startling, 'Clearblue' is placed as a lynchpin moment on the thematic journey of Virgin — once you hear it, it's hard to imagine this project without it. Throughout Virgin, Lorde leans toward choruses that are either comprised of very few words or none at all, allowing simple messages and their corresponding arrangements to speak for themselves. 'Shapeshifter,' a searingly effective admission of using sex as a means of acceptance, is an exception — Lorde uses the hook to list the several versions of herself that have existed in relation to romantic partners — but within the verbose recollections, two phrases are repeated, 'I'm not affected' and 'I just wanna fall,' that slice to the heart of the song. If 'Shapeshifter' lacks flash compared to other moments across Virgin, the song makes up for with maturity and world-building. If you're half-paying attention, 'Broken Glass' might sound like the most traditional pop song on Virgin, with its thumping beat, elastic synths and muted verses leading into an upper-register eruption on the chorus. Yet every inch of the song is densely packed with personal devastation, as Lorde recounts the sadness, self-loathing, addictive qualities and hopelessness associated with counting calories and obsessing over appearance. 'Broken Glass' may be one of the best songs about eating disorders and body dysmorphia ever recorded, but it's also an A-plus anthem that's worthy of Lorde's upper-tier arsenal. If the entirety of Virgin represents a hard-fought reclamation, 'Broken Glass' is its crowning achievement. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
Toronto Sun
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Toronto Sun
Lorde kicks off Glastonbury festival with surprise set
Headline acts this year include Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo, with other highlights including Charli XCX and Rod Stewart. New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde got this year's Glastonbury under way with a secret gig. Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account GLASTONBURY — New Zealand singer Lorde helped kick off this year's Glastonbury music festival in southwest England on Friday with a packed out 'secret set'. Best known for hits including 'Royals', 'Green Light' and 'Solar Power', the star's performance on the Woodsies stage coincided with the release of her much-anticipated fourth studio album which came out at midnight. Organizers shut off Woodsies field just before Lorde came on stage due to overcrowding as news of her appearance spread around the festival's sprawling Worthy Farm site. Headline acts this year include Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo, with other highlights including Charli XCX and Rod Stewart. Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi, meanwhile, was rumoured to be another of the TBAs who might perform a 'secret set' at this year's festival. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Capaldi wrote on Instagram 'It's been a while…' as his new track 'Survive' was released, marking his return to the music industry. Media reports speculated he could perform a slot scheduled for 4.55 pm (1555 GMT) on the festival's Pyramid Stage. The 28-year-old in 2023 announced that he was taking a break from performing, after struggling to finish his Glastonbury set days earlier. That year's Glastonbury was meant to be his comeback after he cancelled three weeks of shows due to the mental and physical effects of touring. He had previously spoken of his difficulties coping with fame and suffering panic attacks, while he has also been diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome. In an Instagram post at the time, Capaldi thanked the crowd for helping him, adding that he 'used to be able to enjoy every second of shows like this'. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'But the truth is I'm still learning to adjust to the impact of my Tourette's and on Saturday it became obvious that I need to spend much more time getting my mental and physical health in order, so I can keep doing everything I love for a long time to come.' He added: 'I'll be back as soon as I possibly can.' Tourette's is a neurological condition that causes a person to make involuntary sounds or movements called tics. Stress and anxiety are common triggers. The award-winning singer-songwriter, is best known for his 2019 hit 'Someone You Loved', which was a number one in the UK and United States. But despite the best-selling single and a best-selling album, he has spoken of having imposter syndrome caused by anxiety. Love concerts, but can't make it to the venue? Stream live shows and events from your couch with VEEPS, a music-first streaming service now operating in Canada. Click here for an introductory offer of 30% off. Explore upcoming concerts and the extensive archive of past performances. Toronto Raptors Toronto Raptors Music Sunshine Girls Canada
