Lorde bares all about gender fluidity, trauma and self-discovery on her comeback album, Virgin.
The New Zealand pop star is back with her most candid collection to date.
Regarding her gender identity, on the track Hammer – which the singer described as “an ode to city life and horniness” – Lorde declares: “Some days I’m a woman, some days I’m a man.”
On her website, Lorde dubbed Hammer – which she penned with Jim E-Stack (Caroline Polachek, Haim and Dominic Fike) – the “sound of my rebirth”.
On Man Of The Year, meanwhile, she admits: “Can’t believe I’ve become someone else / someone more like myself”.
Lorde recently said she doesn’t recognise the person on Virgin’s predecessor, 2021’s Solar Power – so we are essentially meeting the real Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor on Virgin.
Elsewhere, on Favourite Daughter, Lorde details her complex relationship with her mother, Sonja Yelich.
She sings: “Now every day the plane takes off / And every night the room fills up with / People who are convinced I’m not / Just some kid faking it for your love.”
Lorde recently admitted “a lot of people” won’t think she’s a “good girl anymore” after hearing Virgin.
The 28-year-old singer believes the record will see her lose and gain fans as she gets vulnerable on sensitive topics.
She told Rolling Stone magazine: “There’s going to be a lot of people who don’t think I’m a good girl anymore, a good woman. It’s over.
“It will be over for a lot of people, and then for some people, I will have arrived. I’ll be where they always hoped I’d be.”
Virgin tracklisting:
1. Hammer
2. What Was That
3. Shapeshifter
4. Man Of The Year
5. Favourite Daughter
6. Current Affairs
7. Clearblue
8. GRWM
9. Broken Glass
10. If She Could See Me Now
11. David