Review Summary: Leaps and bounds back towards the Lorde we love
The euphoric synth explosion on opening track “Hammer” is sublime – I listened to it for the first time on a plane just as the wheels lifted off the tarmac, and there couldn’t have been a more appropriate moment. It sets the tone perfectly for
Virgin: an authentic, cathartic album that feels like a career re-invention (and really, after
Solar Power… it is).
The production is recognisably Jim-E Stack (at least for this fan of his work with Empress Of), and it feels fresh, if not ever-so-slightly at odds with Lorde’s songwriting vision, although it’s hard to beat her soulmate-perfect collaborations with Joel Little on
Pure Heroine and Jack Antonoff on
Melodrama. Certain moments undeniably hit, like the hollowed strings that punctuate the pre-chorus of album highlight “Shapeshifter”, accentuating the pathos of the gut-punch lyric “I’ve been up on the pedestal / But tonight I just wanna fall”. Other production choices don’t, like the entirety of “Clearblue”, who’s a capella autotuned vocals feel uninspired and dated.
At this stage being cringe has become a loved part of Lorde’s brand, and it’s how she gets away with certain lyrics (like “You tasted my underwear / I knew we were ***ed” on “Current Affairs”), as well as stunts like the “What Was That” music video, and her out-of-pocket sampling of “Suga Suga” by Baby Bash on “If She Could See Me Now”. These are all odd and somewhat abrasive choices, but for fans of Lorde it’s exciting to see her continue to be her weirdo-auteur self and to once again pair it with legitimately great music on
Virgin. She’s back, she’s really back!
