Lorde’s fourth studio album, Virgin, will officially drop Friday, June 27, marking her first full-length project since 2021’s Solar Power.
The 11-track album is now available on major streaming platforms, coinciding with growing anticipation for her Ultrasound world tour launching this September.
The album’s rollout initially caught attention for its provocative cover: a blue-tinted X-ray of a pelvis featuring a belt buckle, zipper, and visible IUD. However, fans who purchased physical vinyl copies were surprised to discover additional interior art, which depicts a person—presumably Lorde—wearing clear, plastic shorts, partially unzipped, with pubic hair and vulva visible.
The image quickly went viral across platforms such as X and Reddit, with users sharing a mix of surprise, and wondering if this may have been a bit too much.
when you open your Virgin vinyl and see lordussy pic.twitter.com/rynIHyGoBF
— LORDE SUMMER 2025 ⛓️🧬 (@Chripotle) June 26, 2025
lorde really got her cat out like that on her vinyl huh? pic.twitter.com/uVCw4C9KgL
— kaeden 🩵 (@wandasitcoms) June 26, 2025
While Lorde has not directly addressed the interior image, she has previously described Virgin as being “100 percent written in blood,” and cited the album’s visual palette as “clear—like bathwater, ice, spit.” In that context, the artwork appears aligned with the album’s themes of bodily clarity, self-exposure, and unfiltered expression.
In recent interviews, the singer has emphasized a more relaxed approach to music releases, stating, “I’m not trying to do the whole capital-P Pop thing this time. I just want to put the songs out and let people feel them.”
Fan discourse around Virgin arrives on the heels of a similar conversation regarding Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend cover, which faced scrutiny for its perceived appeal to the male gaze. Some fans have pointed out the double standards female artists face when presenting sexual or provocative imagery.
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Virgin includes contributions from Jim-E Stack, Dev Hynes, Dan Nigro, Fabiana Palladino, and Buddy Ross. The album is available for streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, and other platforms.
Lorde’s Ultrasound tour begins September 17 in Austin, Texas.
