Lorde, Charli XCX, and the era of the immersive album

7NEWS

03-05-2025

When Charli XCX took the stage at Coachella last month she knew the world was watching. Having created a movement with her three-time Grammy-winning album Brat, she used the globe's most renowned music festival to pass the baton to her peers in the throes of readying their own albums.
Celebrating 'the end of Brat Summer', the main stage screen pulsed with the names of artists set to release records over the next few months. Among names like Haim, Pulp, Rosalia, Bon Iver and A$AP Rocky was New Zealand artist Lorde.
But it wasn't just a bequeathment, it was a challenge. Could they make an album with a title that became the 2024 Collins Word of the Year?
Could they have fans searching for album Easter eggs and debating and unpacking lyrics in comment sections? Could they inspire fans to record their own deep-dive manifestos on TikTok and rehearse the choreography to perform for them at their concerts all over the world (read: the Apple dance)?
Could they create an entire world within a record?
Whether Charli XCX's artist peers realise it or not, to have a successful album that connects a global music community, they have to build a world around a release or be forgotten.
In fact, it's why the rollout for Lorde's upcoming album Virgin has been so meticulously planned. In her first interview about the record — with BBC Radio 1 on May 1 — the Kiwi Grammy winner said she's grateful to Charli for the challenge.
'Brat coming out really gave me a kick in a lot of ways,' Lorde told BBC's Jack Saunders. 'It forced me to further define what I was doing because Charli had so masterfully defined everything about Brat, and I knew that what I was doing was very distinct to that.
'When a peer throws the gauntlet down like that, you're like 'Okay, yeah, we've gotta pick it up'. I've spoken to a lot of peers who've all had the same feelings. It's very sick and I'm so grateful to her.'
As the latest torchbearer of pop culture fandom, Lorde has stepped out of her four-year hiatus since Solar Power and wasted no time introducing the world to Virgin, out June 27.
Lorde's Virgin: A timeline of the album rollout so far
April 9, 2025 – TikTok teaser sparks speculation
Just days before Coachella, Lorde posted a 15-second snippet of unreleased music to TikTok. With its hypnotic production, vision of her walking through Washington Square Park, and the lyric 'What was that?', the clip was her first major signal to fans that a new era had begun.
April 13, 2025 – Surprise appearance at Coachella
In a major moment for pop fans, Lorde joined Charli XCX on stage at Coachella for a surprise performance of the Brat remix Girl, So Confusing. It marked her first festival appearance in years.
April 22, 2025 – Surprise performance in NYC
Lorde took to Washington Square Park for a low-key, high-impact pop-up performance. Debuting her single What Was That with a portable speaker, she proved the intimacy of her new material speaks volumes, no staging required.
The fan event was shut down by police after a crowd of more than 10,000 fans took over the park.
April 24, 2025 – Single release: What Was That
The official release of What Was That followed days later, with a music video compiled from the NYC pop-up. Fans praised the track's minimal, synth-driven sound and emotionally candid lyricism.
The single, co-produced with US songwriter and producer Jim-E Stack, clocked over 30 million global streams in the first five days and was added to A-List at BBC Radio 1, selected for high playlist rotation.
April 30, 2025 – Virgin album announcement
Lorde formally announced her new album Virgin, due for release on June 27, 2025. The album cover, featuring a pelvic X-ray complete with a visible IUD, belt buckle and zipper, sparked global commentary.
In a note to fans, Lorde said the record captures 'the innocence and power of femininity — raw, primal, openhearted.'
May 1, 2025 – Candid insights through interviews
In a revealing interview with Jack Saunders on BBC Radio 1, Lorde spoke openly about how Charli XCX's album Brat influenced her creative process. 'Brat gave me a kick in a lot of ways,' she said.
She also discussed how much of the album was never meant for public listening; it was instead intended to be written just for her as she deemed it 'too bold'.
Released on the same date, Lorde's cover story with Document Journal detailed how the album processes her relationship with food and body image.
'I had made my body very small, because I thought that that was what you did as a woman and a woman on display,' Lorde said. 'I thought, 'I'm small. This will communicate to people that I'm taking my position seriously'.'
Lorde told Document Journal she was 'very weak' and 'felt like every bite of food I had was stolen.'
'I look back now, and I don't have that same feeling of floating away,' Lorde said. 'I eat as much as I want and need now. I wasn't very embodied.
'This album is a byproduct of that process of fully coming into my body and feeling the fullness of my power.'
In a note to fans, Lorde says Virgin was produced with Jim-E Stack and includes UK artist Fabiana Palladino, Andrew Aged of LA R&B duo Inc. No World, Frank Ocean collaborator Buddy Ross, Olivia Rodrigo co-writer Dan Nigro and Devonté Hynes AKA Blood Orange among the credits.
She also noted it was mixed by Spike Stent and Tom Elmhirst and mastered by Chris Gehringer.
As part of a deliberately immersive rollout, Lorde has prioritised direct fan engagement; communicating updates via her newsletter, setting up a voicemail line (now at capacity), and teasing further announcements in the coming weeks.
'100 per cent written in blood,' she wrote in a note to fans.