The Hammer Falls- Rebirth and Ruin in Lorde’s Virgin.

By Dáire McConville

Lorde’s return to the stage feels nothing short of cataclysmic. After four years of her trademark social media silence, the New Zealand native is back with her fourth studio album Virgin, released 27th June 2025. As an artist who holds strong boundaries and challenges what we typically demand from artists in today’s modern music scene, it came as a surprise to fans when the 28-year-old re-emerged with the lead single What Was That on the 24th of April, just two months before the album was set to be released.

The synth-pop upbeat track would contradict the harsher lyrics reflecting on a past relationship and personal growth with pain and regret, struggling to see herself in the aftermath of the relationship. This first song of the album was an invitation into Lorde’s headspace, setting the direction for the record.

It is her first album, since her 2013 debut, that is not co-written and produced by Jack Antonoff, instead sharing production with electronic musician Jim-E Stack. The album cover featuring a blue tinted x-ray of a pelvis with a visible IUD was released on social media April 30th with the caption “100% written in blood”, a far cry from that of the singer’s previous release Solar Power, a soft rock, sun-soaked peachy piece of music.

In an interview with Apple music’s Zane Lowe, the performer revealed it was “kind of like a photo of yourself that you don’t love but captures something true about you”. The 11-track album written between 2023 and 2025 was praised for its emotional depth, introspective lyrics, and unique blend of styles. Exploring a range of themes and a blend of late-night club textures which proved that Lorde is a standout creative and unique artist in the musical landscape today, unafraid to experiment unbeknownst to her musical peers.

Virgin — a modern sexualised interpretation that emphasises a woman’s sex status in relation to a man. With her own interpretation, Lorde’s Virgin is about a woman who is powerful on her own, about strength and resilience, not purity, something that is explored in greater detail throughout the project. Delving deeper into her complex issues, Lorde envisages an album that explores sexuality and womanhood, family relationships, pregnancy, and raw self-exposure. It’s no doubt that this is Lorde’s most vulnerable body of work, with some of the artists most intense lyrics, rooted in her past.

The throbbing opener Hammer (and my personal favourite) at once introduces many of these complex themes Lorde unpacks across Virgin. The songs inception came after the singer decided to ditch her birth control following a pregnancy scare and the feeling that came with it.

Pulsating into album, the surging bass opening the track “came from a very guttural place in the body, like your womb”. Hammer explores themes of gender fluidity “some days I’m a woman, some days I’m a man”, as well as complexities of urban life and desire after leaving New Zealand behind and living in New York for most of her adult life now after finding fame in her teenage years.

A striking phrase ‘”when you’re holding a hammer, everything looks like a nail” seemed to stick out, an old phrase known as the ‘Law of the instrument’, which is a psychological principle where the singer has felt relying too heavily on a familiar tool or approach to different areas of life has been destructive, especially considering other more effective options out there. Virgin was about a rebirth, a fresh start, a rebirth that could never have occurred without the one who birthed her first, her mother. Being mentioned throughout the album on songs like Current Affairs and GRWM, but most notably favourite daughter, is the singers own mother.

In a plea for acceptance, the track exposes the ache of wanting to be enough in the eyes of a parent. Singing with a hurt in her voice against a scathing background, the track hit hard — “panic attack just to be your favourite daughter”, reminding listeners that some of the deepest scars can come from the people who shaped us from the beginning and their relationships.

With a distinct voice like marmite, there is no denying the talent in this Grammy award winning artist in both her production and lyricism. With this only being Lorde’s fourth studio album, it is clear to see the route the singer is taking, supporting privacy in her life, while still making striking music and doing something she has loved from her teenage years.

Lorde is known for making a cohesive piece of music, an album that feels like a late-night drive downtown, and with Virgin she has without doubt excelled on this, pushing boundaries never seen before from fans. As someone who has never outwardly gone out of their way to listen to the singer, I find myself revisiting repeatedly as the album itself is so unique yet so established. The singer now has an upcoming Ultrasound World Tour beginning September 17th visiting cities across North America, Europe and of course New Zealand and Australia.

References

Finder, M.M. (2025) ‘Everything to know about Lorde’s new album Virgin as she announces her ultrasound World Tour,’ ELLE, 9 May. https://www.elle.com/uk/life-and-culture/culture/a64723230/lorde-virgin-album-news-release/.

Virgin by Lorde on Apple Music (2025). https://music.apple.com/us/album/virgin/1810905299.

Wratten, M. and Wratten, M. (2025) Lorde explores gender identity in lyrics of new single ‘Hammer’ https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/06/20/lorde-hammer-lyrics-gender-virgin/#:~:text=Lorde%20is%20mulling%20over%20her,a%20man%2C%E2%80%9D%20she%20sing