Over the last few weeks, Lorde has been in celebration mode. As the release of her fourth album ‘Virgin’ has crept closer, she’s held intimate fan events in London garages and small New York music venues, letting her supporters hear the record loud and with room to dance. Her Glastonbury 2025 secret set continues that party atmosphere, packing out the Woodsies tent and field with festival-goers eager to catch a glimpse of the Kiwi pop star as the weekend’s first main stage act and long-rumoured secret set.
With ‘Virgin’ out today (June 27), it’s the perfect time to play it in full – which is exactly what she does, something she suggests at one point could be a “one of one” occurrence. It’s also a brave choice given most people present won’t have had the chance to listen to the record while in the fields of Worthy Farm yet, but it’s a testament to the music that the crowd stays rapt throughout.
‘Hammer’’s ravey synths provide the ideal start to the set before ‘What Was That’ sparks the first big singalong of the weekend. The heaving crowd starts a tent-wide clap to ‘Current Affairs’ while Lorde and her band gather in a huddle in the middle of the stage to perform it, the singer leaning back on her guitarist as the song reaches its midway point.
Live, some of the songs really come into their own. ‘Man Of The Year’’s slow build becomes even more dramatic and thunderous, Lorde ending the track collapsed in a heap on the floor in response. ‘GRWM’’s infectious, upbeat energy shines even brighter than on record and the stripped back ‘Clearblue’ – a song about taking a pregnancy test – fizzes with intense emotion.
‘Virgin’ finds Lorde in the midst of exploration, searching for her identity and on a voyage to self-discovery. It feels fitting, then, that the backdrop and stage is covered in white plastic – a blank canvas for each song to project new facets of Lorde’s character onto. A blurry image of the star can be seen among the colours that drench it during each song, sometimes becoming clearer, others hazy and murky – the uncertainty and unpredictability of her journey reflected in its changing sharpness.
“This record took me a lot – I didn’t know if I would make another record, to be honest, but I’m back here completely free,” she tells the crowd at one point. That freedom is most evident and wide-spreading during the final two songs of the set – ‘Ribs’ and ‘Green Light’ – which wrap up the moment in a perfect wave of euphoria. Lorde summer is go.
Lorde played:
‘Hammer’
‘What Was That’
‘Shapeshifter’
‘Man Of The Year’
‘Favourite Daughter’
‘Current Affairs’
‘Clearblue’
‘GRWM’
‘Broken Glass’
‘If She Could See Me Now’
‘David’
‘Ribs’
‘Green Light’
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