Lorde I'm An Intense Bitch'

Virgin, her first album in four years, is raw, wild and sublime. But it came after a series of personal changes and revelations – from a breakup to an eating disorder to an expanding gender identity. Now, she's ready to talk about all of it

- BY BRITTANY SPANOS

ON AN UNUSUALLY freezing April day in New York, the wind rustles through the cracks of a window air-conditioning unit in an apartment high above the streets of the West Village. It’s an unpretentious two-bedroom, and with its taupes and earthy browns, it feels homey and lived-in. There’s a pack of opened Marlboro Golds and loose cash by the door, Post-its stuck to the refrigerator, melted candle wax and magazines on the coffee table, tall branches in a vase, the smell of freshly burned palo santo in the air. The wall next to the fireplace is filled with rows and rows of books, with space on each shelf reserved for more.

Even 10 floors up, you can hear chatter from the streets below. Given that she recently cleared her social media to tease the dawn of a brand-new era, some of that talk may well be about the apartment’s occupant herself, Ella Yelich-O’Connor, known to the world as Lorde.

It was here that she read, partied, and let the dishes pile up while writing songs for Virgin, her first album in four years, out on 27 June. Recently, she hosted a party for her 28th birthday here. Sometimes, she’ll have sleepovers with her younger sister, Indy Yelich, who’s 26 and also a singer-songwriter. Indy lives close by and drags her older sibling to CorePower Yoga, dive bars, and Knicks games. Lorde has been making a habit of embracing the things that make her feel her age, and sometimes even younger. “I don’t think I'd smoked a cigarette in a decade,” she says, sitting cross-legged on the sofa in a grey T-shirt and dark jeans. “All of a sudden I was like, ‘Should I just try it?’ Felt like what a teenager does.”

For her last album, 2021’s