Lorde admits feeling “trapped” before she explored her gender identity
On her new chart-topping album, Lorde sings, “Some days I’m a woman, some days I’m a man”. Now, she has revealed that she felt “trapped” before building up the courage to explore her gender identity.
Speaking to BBC Radio 1, Lorde stated that she felt “so trapped and so tight in this very kind of straight-ahead femininity.” She began her journey in a “pretty basic way [by] just realising I can’t just have women’s clothes on a photo shoot – I need everything so I can choose. Because some days that will feel so tight and I’ll feel so trapped.”
Lorde noted that this anxiety extended past fashion, too. “The same with my make-up. I say to people now just treat it like male grooming – don’t overcook it. Because the same thing happens, I get all stuck and tight and I can’t express myself.”
The singer has not delineated an exact definition for her gender identity; instead, she believes it will “just keep unfurling and I’m down for that.” After noting that the shift has “really, really changed things,” she said, “I feel a lot more expansive, a lot bigger and my definition of what’s beautiful is really different now.”
In the same interview, she repeated a sentiment expressed at her surprise Glastonbury set, as the singer admitted that she had almost quit the music industry. After realising “at the beginning of 2023 I was not in a great way on a lot of levels,” Lorde added, “I’d never felt more disconnected from my creativity.”
An eating disorder meant that she spent little to no time at all focusing on her creative pursuits; instead, she hyper-focused on her diet. “All I was thinking about was trying to weigh as little as possible,” she admitted. “Going to sleep thinking about food, waking up thinking about food and exercise – that was my creative pursuit.”
Far Out were in attendance at her surprise Glastonbury set, deeming it “the set of an artist determined to evolve and defy typical etiquette. No audience expectations and no old teenage hit will hold Lorde back”.
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