“Meet me in the park. Tonight 7pm” That was all singer-songwriter Lorde’s text on April 22 had to say for hundreds to converge on New York City’s Washington Square Park in hopes of an appearance from the star. 

Despite police efforts to disperse the event, fans who persisted were rewarded when Lorde emerged and performed her first new song in four years while bathed in the glow of cellphone lights held aloft by a frenzy of devotees. The song, “What Was That,” was released days later, and it was followed by two other singles before the release of Lorde’s fourth studio album “Virgin” in June.

“Virgin” provides a deeper, more intimate dive into Ella Yelich-O’Connor, the person behind Lorde, than any work she’s released before. She characterized the album as such in an interview with Rolling Stone, saying, “There’s as little between me and the brand as possible.” 

Lorde’s last album “Solar Power” divided critics and fans alike, as its floaty departure from the real world also marked a steep departure from the artist the world knew. “Virgin” and Lorde’s interviews around its release have revealed just how much turmoil the years since “Solar Power” have brought her, including the descent into an eating disorder and the breakdown of a long-term relationship. 

The dissolution of her struggles and her emergence from them are juxtaposed for the first, and not the last, time in “What Was That.” Its clear-cut vocals, wavering synth and sharp percussion preview the record’s distinctive sonic style. The song marks Lorde’s first collaboration with producer Jim E-Stack, who is known for his work with artists such as Bon Iver, Gracie Abrams and Dominic Fike. 

Evolutions in sound, vocals and themes join sparser lyricism on “Virgin” to create an album that focuses on the body before the brain and musicality before lyricism. Regarding her process, Lorde stated, “Whereas in the past, I’m really trying to craft these lyrics. This time I was like, ‘No, be smart enough to let it be really basic. Be plain with language and see what happens.’” 

Critical to this transformation has been what she described in a recent interview with Rolling Stone as the “ooze” — her defiance of the former cornerstones in her old life by letting herself take up space, physically, creatively and emotionally. The album’s opening track, “Hammer,” immediately delves into the very newfound freedom this lends, and hails the “peace in the madness over our heads” in a punchy, high-speed rollercoaster of a track. 

Whereas the songs off of “Solar Power” were an escape from the shortcomings of modern life, “Hammer” is a paean to its messy complexities, and Lorde declares that she’s ready to feel like she doesn’t have the answers. This embrace of uncertainty is further reflected in her proclamation that “Some days I’m a woman, some days I’m a man.” In the face of questions over her gender identity, she said she feels “really resistant to boxing it up.” 

Lorde has long defied definition, a trend she addresses on “Shapeshifter,” where she dissects her morphing both in the spotlight and in relationships to evade understanding and harm. The commonalities between those two realms are further explored in “Favourite Daughter,” where she casts her every effort toward upward ascent and fame as a means of fulfilling her mother’s dreams. She cries, “Everywhere I run, I’m always running to ya’/ Breakin’ my back, just hopin’ you’ll say I’m a star.”

Yet stark contrasts are ever-present in “Virgin,” whether between ambiguity and conviction or between release and remembrance. Even as Lorde confesses her striving for approval in “Favourite Daughter,” she sings on other tracks about her freedom from the constraints of her youth, dedicating the whole of “GRWM” to the realization of her adulthood and going so far as to proclaim “I’m nobody’s daughter” on “Clearblue.” 

“Clearblue” is so visceral that Lorde herself has said she can hardly listen to it. Its brutality is perhaps the strongest embodiment of Lorde’s liberation from every preoccupation with being palatable and “good” on “Virgin.” “Broken Glass” cuts just as deeply, chronicling her brutal descent into an eating disorder and all she sacrificed for it.

It’s followed by an anthem of reclamation of life in “If She Could See Me Now” which proudly proclaims complete victory over the constraints of her old half-life. The most intimate, most confessional track, though, is the closing song “David”: a heart-rending and freeing examination of loss and liberation.

In an album full of songs that could arguably be lauded as her best work, the album’s fourth track, “Man of the Year,” is the one Lorde has declared herself proudest of. It lays bare the reckoning, the waves of self-doubt and ultimately the peace that come with surrendering a life redefined. “Who’s gon’ love me like this?” she wonders, now that she’s “broken open.”

Lorde has said “Man of the Year” is an homage to the revelations she had surrounding her gender after attending GQ’s Man of the Year event, and it’s a celebration of herself for becoming her own Man of the Year. It’s about the wave of power that comes with showing up for yourself, finding courage in feeling the fear and laying everything bare; in other words, it’s an encapsulation of the album’s most prevalent themes. 

Many Lorde fans in Atlanta await her first show in the city in four years on Oct. 7. Amidst her preparations for her upcoming international tour, she stated, “I see now that being a public figure, you have this responsibility to let it play out, let people project onto you or use you like a mirror, and it all takes time. I’m in no rush. I’m playing the long game.”

Lorde’s fourth album “Virgin” can be streamed on all music services now.