Lorde's racy 'Virgin' vinyl artwork stirs controversy
Lorde is getting intimate in more ways than one on her new album.
The Grammy-winning songstress, 28, is stirring up controversy on social media thanks to the artwork from her latest record "Virgin." The 11-track LP, coproduced and cowritten by Lorde (real name: Ella Yelich-O'Connor), marks the alternative pop singer's return to the music scene after 2021's "Solar Power."
The vinyl edition of the album features an eight-page photo booklet, according to Lorde's official website. The product description includes the advisory warning, "Adult images." One of the images in question reportedly includes a nude shot of Lorde, with the photo showing the crotch of an individual wearing see-through pants.
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A representative for Lorde confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that the singer is the individual featured in the photo. USA TODAY has reached out to representatives of Lorde for comment.
The album artwork drew scrutiny online for its racy depiction of the singer, dividing fans who were shocked by Lorde's apparent embrace of nudity and others who were unfazed by the skin-baring photo.
"Me when I saw Lorde's vinyl cover on my timeline," X user @leasweetener wrote alongside a clip of Anne Hathaway's "Idea of You" character Solène Marchand slamming a laptop shut in horror.
me when i saw lorde's .. vinyl cover on my timelinepic.twitter.com/H4BYyNuWKK
"Just saw that Lorde vinyl cover," @sayfoncaffeine wrote, inserting a GIF of "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" character Rowley Jefferson looking confused.
just saw that lorde vinyl cover pic.twitter.com/m5iMj2SW9s
"Should've stayed curious about the Lorde vinyl😭😭," @deluluboy2 wrote alongside a clip of "Real Housewives of Atlanta" alum NeNe Leakes exclaiming, "What?! That is shocking."
should've stayed curious abt the lorde vinyl😭😭 pic.twitter.com/WNQl6CAJzL
Despite the musical controversy, some fans came to Lorde's defense. "The Lorde vinyl was not that bad. Y'all love to overreact," X user @serialexpplain wrote.
"That Lorde vinyl cover ain't even that serious (for real), and y'all are dragging it," @lele_westwood wrote.
"I really thought the Lorde vinyl insert would be a lot worse than people are saying it is," @lqbyrinths wrote. "You guys are kinda dramatic 😭"
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In a May interview with Rolling Stone, Lorde reflected on the "vulnerable" and "messy" nature of "Virgin" and the impact the album could have on her public image.
"There's going to be a lot of people who don't think I'm a good girl anymore, a good woman. It's over," Lorde told the outlet. "It will be over for a lot of people, and then for some people, I will have arrived. I'll be where they always hoped I'd be."
This isn't the first time Lorde has featured explicit imagery in her work. The album cover for "Solar Power" showed a bikini-clad Lorde "jumping over a friend on a beach," but the ground-level angle gave an unfiltered view of the singer's buttocks.
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During a June 2021 interview on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," the singer said the image was "a little hardcore, but it was so joyful to me."
"It felt innocent and playful and a little bit feral and sexy," Lorde continued. "You've got to do it while you've got it."
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