Lorde celebrated the release of Virgin by performing the entire album live for the first time at a surprise, early-morning set at Glastonbury.
The musician confirmed the set Thursday night and took the stage at 11:30 a.m. Friday, with a very full crowd there to meet her, despite such little notice and the non-traditional time slot. (Per the BBC, so many people showed up that Glastonbury had to close access to the Woodsies field due to overcrowding concerns.)
Lorde kicked off her set with “Hammer” and proceeded to play the rest of Virgin straight through, giving each song its live debut. She then ended the set with two longtime favorites, “Ribs” and “Green Light.”
At one point during the performance, Lorde thanked fans for showing up. “We decided to play the whole record for you from front to back,” Lorde said. “This may be a one-of-one, you know? This record took me a lot. I didn’t know if I’d make another record, to be honest, but I’m back here completely free. And I’m so grateful to you for waiting.”
Virgin marks Lorde’s fourth album and first since 2021’s Solar Power. She wrote and produced the record with Jim-E Stack, while additional contributors include Dev Hynes (a.k.a. Blood Orange), Dan Nigro, and Fabiana Palladino.
As Lorde discussed in her recent Rolling Stone cover story, most of the album was written from late 2023 through 2024, between London and New York. Work on the album began after a transformative period of self-discovery, after recovering from an eating disorder and processing the end of a long-term relationship. She described the period that followed as “the ooze,” during which she allowed herself to take up more space — physically, creatively, emotionally — and explore the expansiveness of her gender expression.
Describing the physicality of the album, Lorde said, “I think coming more into my body, I came into an understanding of the grotesque nature of it and the glory and all these things. It’s right on the edge of gross. I often really tried to hit this kind of gnarliness or grossness. ‘You tasted my underwear.’ I’ve never heard that in a song, you know? It felt like the right way to tell this whole chapter.”
Lorde will hit the road later this year in support of Virgin. The North American leg of the trek kicks off Sept. 17 in Austin and wraps Oct. 22 in Seattle. Lorde will be joined by Blood Orange, Japanese House, Chanel Beads, and Empress Of on select dates.
