Credit: Thistle Brown

Lorde explores gender identity in new single and video, ‘Man of the Year’

Thu 29 May 2025 16:14, UK

New Zealand musician Lorde has returned with her second single, ‘Man Of The Year’, alongside a video that delves into her gender identity.

Lorde released her first single, ‘What Was That’, from her upcoming album Virgins, to complete mayhem. Police had to shut down a surprise show in New York, and the single hit #1 on US Spotify and #5 globally, marking her biggest song since the 2013 hit Royals.

Her new single, ‘Man Of The Year’, is less a party anthem, more a soundtrack for a lonely night in, staring at the city lights. Co-produced by Lorde and Jim-E Stack, Lorde tackles her gender identity in deft, careful swoops. At the MET Gala this year, she revealed that, “I feel like a man and a woman,” in a dress that looks similar to her clothes in the new single’s video.

The video opens with the singer staring far off in a simple T-shirt and jeans. Barefoot, she rests back on a stool as she sings, “My babe can’t believe I’ve become someone else / Someone more like myself.”

As she dives into the first chorus, the pop star strips off her white top and tapes over her breasts, skyscrapers gleaming behind her. Lorde then makes her way to what appears to be a sea of mud on the floor, dancing atop it to a heavy musical breakdown paralleled in her moves. She is left breathless, lying in the dirt.

The Liability singer will kick off her sold-out Ultrasound World Tour in September, which will hit multiple nights at iconic venues including Madison Square Garden, London’s O2 Arena, AFAS Live in Amsterdam, and The Anthem in Washington, DC

Lorge – ‘Virgin’ tracklisting:

1. ‘Hammer’
2. ‘What Was That’
3. ‘Shapeshifter’
4. ‘Man Of The Year’
5. ‘Favourite Daughter’
6. ‘Current Affairs’
7. ‘Clearblue’
8. ‘GRWM’
9. ‘Broken Glass’
10. ‘If She Could See Me Now’
11. ‘David’