Many have seemingly embraced Lorde's new single "What Was That" as the pop star's return to Melodrama form. Although it feels unfair and unrealistic to expect an artist to recreate the specific magic of a past record, only time will tell — but as the prophecy of Charli XCX foretold, the new Lorde album will indeed be arriving this summer.
Virgin is out on June 27 through UMusic / Republic Records, and it's now available for pre-order. The singer-songwriter's fourth album is the follow-up to 2021's Solar Power, and it was produced by Lorde and Jim-E Stack, with additional production credits from Dev Hynes, Dan Nigro, Fabiana Palladino, Andrew Aged and Buddy Ross.
"100 percent written in blood," the artist said of the album when she announced it on social media. The Virgin cover art features what appears to be a pelvic x-ray, with a belt buckle, pant zipper and IUD visible in the blue-tinted scan.
In an email to fans, Lorde added, "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."