After being snubbed for a GRAMMY nomination, I figured I’d give Lorde’s newest album, Virgin, the flowers it deserves in my own review. Spoiler: It’s a 10/10.
Virgin was released this summer on June 27, making it Lorde’s fourth studio album following Pure Heroine, Melodrama, and Solar Power.
After a meteoric rise in her teens, Lorde spent the last few years mostly out of the spotlight, emerging briefly to release Solar Power in 2021 and feature on Charli xcx’s “Girl, so confusing” in the summer of 2024. Her recent album, Virgin, was highly anticipated by me and fellow fans.
A short album boasting only 11 songs, totaling 34 minutes, Virgin dives into themes of intimacy, womanhood, and identity. It’s Lorde’s most honest, plainly spoken album.
Track 1: “Hammer”
This song kicks off the album with feelings of freedom, opportunity, and acceptance. No one knows what they’re doing, no one knows who they are, and that’s the beauty of constantly growing and evolving. It’s the kind of song you play while dancing wildly in the grass like no one’s watching.
Standout lyrics: “Some days I’m a woman, some days I’m a man / I might’ve been born again, I’m ready to feel like I don’t have the answers”
Track 2: “What Was That”
Lead single from the album, and a bittersweet jam. Think strobe lights and dancing by yourself in the middle of the room, eyes closed. It’s a memory reflecting on youthful indiscretions, people from your past, kissing at parties, creating fantastical images in your mind, getting hurt, and waking up years later, reminiscing, thinking exactly what the title says, “what was that?”
Standout lyrics: “I remember saying then, this is the best cigarette of my life, well I want you just like that / I try to let whatever has to pass through me pass through”
Track 3: “Shapeshifter”
This one has a kick to it and leads to introspection if you let it. It’s an acknowledgement that identity is fickle, in and out of relationships. It’s reflecting on who you are and who you’ve been, from being a teenager to adulthood. It dives into the idea that women transform who they are for other people as much as they transform for themselves.
Standout lyrics: “I become her again, visions of teenage innocence / I’ll kick you out and pull you in, say that you were just a friend, and when it’s all over again, say I’m not affected”
Track 4: “Man of the Year”
In an interview with Lucy Smith for Triple J, Lorde explains how this very intimate track covers gender and masculinity coexisting with femininity. It’s a rejection of the traditional feminine values we’re told to strive for: be as thin as possible, be demure, be ladylike. It’s about uncovering your truest self, free from expectation.
Standout lyrics: “My babe can’t believe I’ve become someone else, someone more like myself / I didn’t think he’d appear, let’s hear it for the man of the year.”
Track 5: “Favorite Daughter”
This song’s a letter to everyone you work to impress. It’s an emotionally charged track about doing everything in your power to make your people, and even strangers, proud. Think of marching up a hill and dramatically dancing in yet another field. I’m sure we can all relate on some level, doing everything to be the favorite daughter.
Standout lyrics: “’Cause I’m an actress, all of the medals I’ve won for ya / Everywhere I run, I’m always running to ya”
Track 6: “Current Affairs”
This song samples “Morning Love” by Dexta Daps, confusing many at first listen, but it adds something special, almost comedic, until it’s not. This track broaches the topic of doomed relationships and knowing the end is coming. Think about that empty feeling you get when your situationship starts to pull back. Knowing in today’s society, they’re just going to blame it on current affairs.
Standout Lyrics: “But now I’m crying on the phone, swearing nothing’s wrong, yeah I think he’s gon’ blame it on … current affairs”
Track 7: “Clearblue”
Some context: Lorde has spoken openly about her journey going off birth control. This song is about the heightened feelings when taking a pregnancy test, in Lorde’s case, for the first time in years. Letting someone close to you, having the possibility of a family, and the feelings surrounding that negative test. Bittersweet for some, and jarring to say the least, and full of emotion, of what could’ve been, whether you wanted to be pregnant or not.
Standout lyrics: “I’m nobody’s daughter, yeah baby, I’m free, I’m free / I feel you answer, my hips moving faster, I rode you until I cried / I wish I kept the Clearblue, I’d remember how it feels to be”
Track 8: “GRWM”
This track is about discovering your adult self. It’s not who you thought you’d be, but it’s better. It’s cheeky, but also an acknowledgement that you’re part of every woman before you. It reminds me of the idea that we all thought we’d feel like an adult when we grew up, but that’s not the case. You’re the same person, but now also a grown woman.
Standout lyrics: “Maybe you’ll finally know who you wanna be, a grown woman in a baby tee”
Track 9: “Broken Glass”
This is my current favorite on the album. Lyrically, it’s about an eating disorder and losing yourself in it. I interpret it to be a song about losing control, losing faith, and feeling hopeless. In the end, it’s about letting go, letting bad luck just be bad luck, and the greatest part is that bad luck isn’t permanent. “It’s just broken glass.”
Standout lyrics: “It might be months of bad luck, but what if it’s just broken glass?”
Track 10: “If She Could See Me Now”
Sampling “Suga Suga” by Baby Bash feat. Frankie J, this is a song about growth and identity. It’s all about becoming yourself, reclaiming your power, and moving past people who’ve hurt you. It touches on the idea that all the pain in your past fuels your growth and strength in the present.
Standout lyrics: “As for me, I’m going back to the clay / It made me a woman, being hurt like that”
Track 11: “David”
This song poses the question we all ask, “Why do we run to the ones we do?” It’s about heartbreak, being broken by someone you loved, and questioning, “Was I just someone to dominate?” and “Am I ever gon’ love again?” The lyrics speak for themselves, and they all stand out. I’d list them all if I had the word count.
Standout lyrics: “If I’d had virginity, I would have given that too / Once I could sing again, I swore I’d never let myself sing again for you / Why do we run to the ones we do? / Pure heroine mistaken for featherweight”
It’s a no-skips album every woman should listen to in full at least once. It’s unsurprisingly another life-altering, extraordinary album by Lorde, covering the quintessential experience of growing up.
All women, especially college women, go through times like these, questioning their future, their identity, their past, reconciling who they were with who they will become. Lorde’s Virgin is a 10/10, five stars, and the winner of every award in my books.
Want to see more HCFSU? Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, and Pinterest!