Lorde stunned fans with explicit vinyl artwork for new album Virgin as photo of singer’s nude body in sheer pants sparks online frenzy.
The 28-year-old New Zealand singer-songwriter, who recently made a major comeback with her fourth studio album, Virgin, shocked fans when they discovered an X-rated image included in the LP’s physical packaging.
Upon Friday’s release, fans took to social media to share a revealing photo from the vinyl insert. The image shows a partially exposed nude body — navel, pubic hair, and all — underneath an unzipped pair of see-through pants. While not featured on the standard cover, which displays a blue X-ray-style image of a pelvis, the risqué shot clearly caught the attention of those who purchased the physical edition.
View this post on Instagram
“Lorde showing lordeussy on her vinyl. I’m seated,” one fan joked on X, posting a photo of the NSFW insert. The user later clarified, “For anyone confused — I love this cover.”
Lorde’s official store features a clear “PARENTAL ADVISORY” label and warns buyers of “ADULT IMAGES” within the packaging. A representative for the singer later confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that the nude photo does indeed depict Lorde herself wearing sheer pants.
The bold artwork has fueled an avalanche of online conversation, but it also aligns with the deeply personal themes of Virgin, which marks Lorde’s first full-length release since 2021’s Solar Power. That record struggled commercially, but Virgin is already proving a stronger contender, especially with its lead single “What Was That” climbing into the Top 40 — her first solo hit to do so in nearly eight years since “Green Light” in 2017.
Lorde also recently made headlines by mending her friendship with fellow pop disruptor Charli XCX, after years of quiet tension between the two. Charli XCX alluded to the rocky relationship in her 2024 Brat track “Girl, So Confusing”, a song Lorde later joined for an emotional remix. The remix gave Lorde the space to speak openly about body image struggles, including battling an eating disorder, which may inform her unapologetically raw artistic choices on Virgin.
“You always say, ‘Let’s go out,’ but then I cancel last minute,” Lorde sang in the remix. “I was so lost in my head and scared to be in your pictures because for the last couple years I’ve been at war with my body.”
From candid lyrics to daring visuals, Virgin is already shaping up to be Lorde’s most vulnerable and provocative project to date — and fans can’t look away.
