Lorde's 'Virgin' Summer Is Coming
What Was That? Oh, just the official album-of-the-summer announcement.
Brat summer’s fire may never dim (“I’m interested in the tension of staying too long,” waxed Charli XCX on Instagram yesterday), but one thing is certain: Lorde summer is heating up. On Wednesday, the New Zealand songstress confirmed her first album in four years, Virgin, is coming out on June 27.
Lorde took to Instagram to share the official album artwork, which pictures a pelvic X-ray with a zipper, an IUD, and a belt buckle. In an email to fans, Lorde expounded on the inspiration behind the forthcoming record’s sound and visuals:
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.
I’M PROUD AND SCARED OF THIS ALBUM. THERE’S NOWHERE TO HIDE. I BELIEVE THAT PUTTING THE DEEPEST PARTS OF OURSELVES TO MUSIC IS WHAT SETS US FREE.
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Lorde’s already turning heads with the album’s lead single, “What Was That?,” a cut we said “sounds like summer, carried by a captivating synth arrangement.” The artist caused a ruckus at New York City’s Washington Square Park last week, when she corralled fans around the venue’s fountain for an exclusive first listen of the track (along with a full-blown music video shoot, which, naturally, stormed the internet with a viral force). Upon release, the song claimed the No. 1 spot on Spotify in the US, a feat Lorde has not accomplished since “Royals.”
Lorde has not yet shared the tracklist for the record, but stay tuned for more information on the project as it becomes available.
