Virginmarks the triumphant return ofLordefor her fourth studio album. In the time sinceSolar Power,her last album, Lorde has more or less disappeared from the public eye entirely, leaving fans to wonder when her new set of music could release. Now, fans need to speculate no longer as the wait is over.
BesidesLorde’s essential hit records, fans prepared for her return withVirgin’sthree singles: “What Was That,” “Man of the Year,” and “Hammer” (which ended up being the album’s opening track). Now, fans are elated to finally hear new material on the airwaves starring Lorde.Virginoffers listeners 11 glorious tracks by Lorde at her sharpest and most skilled yet. The general consensus from fans and critics is that the album is a win, but how does one rank each track from least to most favorite?
11"Broken Glass"
Track Nine of Lorde’s Virgin
“Broken Glass” is unquestionably the poppiest and pop-friendly song on the album. There’s nothing wrong with pop music, so that’s not a criticism. Truth be told, for all the heavy topics that the album covers, “Broken Glass” offers a welcome break from the usual action of the album. Simply put, it’s a fun record.
Not to say that this album needs more fun records, because the consistent tone that the album goes for is sonically resonant for listeners, even if it isn’t completely uplifting. By contrast, a song like “Broken Glass” stands out all the more for leaning deeper into classic genre conventions than the rest. “Broken Glass” is firmly rooted in electronic pop, providing more of a lighthearted break from what came before it.Even at a half-hour runtime, Lorde’s album can get heavy, so “Broken Glass” feels like calm before getting back to the storm.
10"GRWM"
Track Eight of Lorde’s Virgin
The angelic melody of “Clearblue” anticipates the listener for a far more booming, hip-thrusting time on “GRWM.” For an album laced with melancholy and brevity, “GRWM” is unexpectedly thunderous, with a catchy beat that makes one want to move their body on the dancefloor, be it intentionally or not.
With “wide hips, soft lips,” and “my mama’s trauma” that she’s carried “since ‘96,” Lorde gyrates her way through this record. At every turn, she makes it emphatically clear that she is, indeed, “a grown woman,” and chooses to spell it out for listeners every second the song passes. This marks the first time on the album that the album comes the closest to more traditional pop in that regard. The trend continues into the next track, “Broken Glass.”
9"Current Affairs"
Track Six of Lorde’s Virgin
“Current Affairs” offers what is arguably Lorde’s most haunting instrumental on the album. Lyrics like “My bed is on fire / mama I’m so scared / don’t know how to come back / once I get back on the edge” make that unsettling feeling that the listener feels throughout even more disturbingly pronounced.
Lorde and Jim E-Stacks have producer credits on this track, as they do on every song for the album.
It’s a song that echoes themes of solitude and, honestly, is one of the better reflections of what it feels like to be alone with one’s thoughts than most songs have ever come close to. There’s also an added layer of how it feels for one’s private emotions to be on a public display. This turns the apparent mention of watching Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s infamous honeymoon tape (judging from thisRolling Stoneinterview) into a taste of dramatic irony.
8"Man of the Year"
Track Four of Lorde’s Virgin
“Man of the Year” wasVirgin’ssecond single, and it’s centered around gender identity. It’s something of a bold choice to choose such a personal, muted record as a single, as single releases are normally reserved for pop-heavy,mainstream-friendly songs for listeners to dance to. “Man of the Year” is far from that.
That isn’t a knock, but instead, something her fans should feel grateful for. Through “Man of the Year,” Lorde crafts a deeply vulnerable song that focuses on the performativity in expressing gender, and the fluidity that one can find in it. Much like the prior track, “Shapeshifter,” Lorde touches on a topic that not everyone knows how or is willing to talk about, but remains relatable in her attempt. The result is an immensely powerful track that hits the soul like a tidal wave.
7"What Was That"
Track Two of Lorde’s Virgin
While this is the second track on her new album, “What Was That” originally served as the lead single for the project. Its release was her fanbase’s first indicator that Lorde would be delving into more of a synthpop direction with this album, and the creative choice proved fruitful for the project overall.
As for the song, it feels like a shoulder-bumping odyssey of introspection. Lorde uses strong visuals to paint a picture in the listener’s mind of what seems to be a morning routine. She replaces a wedding veil with the smoke from the “best cigarette of [her] life” as she ruminates in the middle of “a place in the city” about someone she misses dearly and wants as badly as that cigarette. It’s very dreamlike imagery, intentionally so, making for some of the most striking lyrics on the album.
6"Hammer"
Track One of Lorde’s Virgin
“Hammer” starts the album emphatically. This is the first time audiences have heard Lorde’s voice on new material in four years, assuming one hadn’t already heard her prior singles this year. It’s apropos that such a return evokes visuals of reincarnation with lines like “some days I’m a woman, some days I’m a man / I might’ve been born again.”
There’s a heat in the pavement
My mercury’s raising
Don’t know if it’s love or if it’s ovulation
When you’re holding a hammer, everything looks like a nail
Meanwhile, the aboveopening lines of the songset the tone for an album in which Lorde is unapologetically feminine, refreshingly so. Much like she does on the album’s artwork, an X-ray of the female pelvis, Lorde presents her body and mind to the world by holding a shred of herself back. The result is a song that, much like the album, signifies both a return to form and a rebirth into something even more powerful.
5"David"
Track 11 of Lorde’s Virgin
“David” is the finale ofVirgin, ending the album with a quiet bang. It’s difficult for an album topeak with its final song, and especially on an album full of tremendous tracks, “David” has stiff competition.Still, though, despite coming shy of beingVirgin’snumber one track, “David” is still a contender for ranking among the album’s best.
This is where all the album’s themes, topics, and recurring threads all culminate for a clear message. This song is about taking one’s body and mind back after putting too much stock in another person. As Lorde says in her song, she doesn’t belong to anyone except herself.Virginis a reclaiming of identity, mind, body, and spirit. As the conclusion of Lorde’s spiritual odyssey, not only does it bring the album full circle, it solidifies the album as one of the best that 2025 has to offer.
4"Shapeshifter"
Track Three on Lorde’s Virgin
The album starts to take more of a hypno-electronica route with this shift into “Shapeshifter.“Appropriately, the “Shapeshifter” record is the one which transforms the album into something more thanthe opening trackimplies. If the last track, “What Was That,” is truly like living through a dream, “Shapeshifter” is flat out dreamy.
Lorde reflects on the people she’s slept with and “the pairs of hands I’ve met with,” trying to give up nothing personal so the connection (or lack there of) doesn’t affect her. However, judging from the somber tone of the record, the lack of intimacy is what’s truly affecting her. She speaks to the complex, unspoken nature of hookup culture in a way that feels beautifully modern as much as it feels bittersweet.
3"Favourite Daughter”
Track Five of Lorde’s Virgin
The previous track, “Man of the Year,” challenges gender performativity, while “Favourite Daughter” sees Lorde discussing the act of playing a different kind of role. In this song, Lorde actively comes to terms with a complex dynamic she shared with her mother and constantly seeking her approval, largely to no avail.
Lorde further complicates it by equating familial relationships to an artist having a devoted following, constantly seeking their approval to remain in their good graces despite the emotional pressure it weighs on an artist.
Everyone has a complicated relationship with their parents/guardian, be it a positive upbringing or not. Lorde further complicates it by equating familial relationships to an artist having a devoted following, constantly seeking their approval to remain in their good graces despite the emotional pressure it weighs on an artist. Lines like “I was a singer, you were my fan … scared of your anger, in love with your whim … cause I’m an actress, all of the medals I won for you” resonate so strongly in such a multi-layered record.
Track Seven of Lorde’s Virgin
Virginis littered with records from Lorde that can be called beautiful. What gives “Clearblue” a unique distinction is that this song, while still deserving of the beautiful title, is that the song sounds outright heavenly, as if the songstress pulled it from out of the Pearl Gates herself personally.
The first minute or so is almost strictly an acapella, letting Lorde’s words serve as pure symphony. Slowly, other instrumentations follow, as Lorde’s echo turns into a belch, belting on both lead vocals and backup adlibs. At just under a minute, Lorde creates a breathtakingly gorgeous harmony. It’s essentially an interlude, but resonates so much stronger than that. “Clearblue” blends vividly into the album’s narrative whilst managing to be one of the most shockingly powerful tracks the album has to offer.
