Lorde's latest album, Virgin, dropped on Friday, featuring 11 tracks and a little something extra that has some fans in a tizzy. USA Today reports that the Grammy-winning artist, known as Ella Yelich-O'Connor in her prefame life, included an eight-page picture booklet with the vinyl version of the release, along with a parental advisory that reads: "Adult images." One of those images—a photo of someone's nude crotch, as seen through a pair of see-through pants. On Lorde's official website, the album cover itself—a blue-tinged X-ray image of a pelvis—is shown, but you can catch the more controversial image peeking out just underneath it. A spokesperson for the singer verified to Entertainment Weekly that the crotch in question is indeed Lorde's.
Reaction has been mixed, with some defending the 28-year-old New Zealander's artwork choice:
Others, however, were left shaking their heads:
- "Me when i saw lorde's .. vinyl cover on my timeline," wrote one critic, showing a clip of actor Anne Hathaway slamming her laptop closed in horror
- "Should've stayed curious abt the lorde vinyl," laments another.
USA Today notes this isn't Lorde's first spin on the controversial image merry-go-round. The cover for 2021's
Solar Power features Lorde in a bikini leaping over someone at the beach, her bared buttocks mostly in view. In an interview with Stephen Colbert later that year, Lorde admitted the photo may have been a "little hardcore," but she added that "it was so joyful to me. ... It felt innocent and playful and a little bit feral and sexy. ... You've got to do it while you've got it."
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