To explore gender and redefine identity

THE SECRET SAUCE of elusive Kiwi pop musician Lorde has always been vulnerability.

- By Brontë H. Lacsamana

Four years ago, her third studio album Solar Power saw her go on a healing journey into the sun. Eight years ago, her album Melodrama sunk into the recesses of her emotional depth. Twelve years ago, her debut album, Pure Heroine, had everyone marveling at the sheer honesty and boldness in the then-17-year-old Auckland girl’s lyrics.

Born Ella Yelich-O’Connor, Lorde has allowed each of her albums to represent chapters of her life. For those on the millennial-Gen Z cusp like this writer, her music has practically marked a generation’s experience of adulthood.

Lorde’s fourth album, titled Virgin, was released on June 27. Now 28 years old, she bares her soul once more in this new outing, as evidenced by the album cover which is an X-ray photo of a pelvis with a belt buckle, pant zipper, and IUD.

While the music is stripped-down in this album, it is also more sonically mature, a huge leap from Solar Power. More than ever, Virgin proves that Lorde continues to embrace the vulnerability of exploring her identity with the rest of the world.