Lorde has discussed her gender identity and evolution, following recent remarks about where she is “gender-wise”.
- READ MORE: Lorde’s ‘What Was That’ takes us back to the dancefloor for another emotional, electric journey
Ahead of her fourth record ‘Virgin’, which is due for release on June 27, Lorde made a memorable appearance at this year’s Met Gala, where she revealed that her outfit contained “Easter eggs” about the new album, saying at the time that her dress “really represents where I’m at gender-wise. I feel like a man and a woman…”
Soon after, she suggested she didn’t mean anything by the “Easter eggs” comment, elaborating on her comments about where she’s at “gender-wise” and opened up about her past body image issues.
Now, in an in-depth interview with Rolling Stone, Lorde has opened up about her gender evolution, saying: “My gender got way more expansive when I gave my body more room.” She went on to explain the opening line of the first track on ‘Virgin’ that reads “Some days I’m a woman/Some days I’m a man” and how it reflects her current headspace in terms of gender fluidity.
Lorde said to Rolling Stone: “[Chappell Roan] asked me this. She was like, ‘So, are you nonbinary now?’ And I was like, ‘I’m a woman except for the days when I’m a man.’ I know that’s not a very satisfying answer, but there’s a part of me that is really resistant to boxing it up.”
She also said another song on the record, ‘Man of the Year’, “was fully representative of how [her] gender felt in that moment.” The song was partially inspired by her experience of trying on a pair of men’s jeans and showing a picture of it producer Jim-E Stack: “He was like, ‘I want to see the you that’s in this picture represented in the music.’ This was before I had any sense of my gender broadening at all.”
Elsewhere during her chat with Rolling Stone, Lorde discussed the Trump administration and their ongoing war agains the trans community, admitting that she can’t compare herself to other people in the community.
“I don’t think that [my identity] is radical, to be honest,” she said. “I see these incredibly brave young people, and it’s complicated. Making the expression privately is one thing, but I want to make very clear that I’m not trying to take any space from anyone who has more on the line than me. Because I’m, comparatively, in a very safe place as a wealthy, cis, white woman.”
Earlier this month, Lorde had a chat with Document Journal that sees her further hint at her “gender broadening”, and her latest single ‘What Was That’ being product of her growth.
“I had come back from London to New York after this period of great turbulence in my personal life,” she said. “Becoming single, but also really facing my body stuff head-on, and starting to feel my gender broadening a little bit. Just being back in my house and feeling this big wave of grief. I just kept thinking, ‘What was all of that?’”
Last week (May 8), she revealed that she would be hitting the road again later this year for some headline tour dates across the UK, Europe and North America. These kick off in September with the US shows beginning in Austin, Texas, and run through to December, where the tour wraps up with a final stop in Stockholm in December.
Special guests for the shows include The Japanese House, Nilüfer Yanya, Chanel Beads, Empress Of and Oklou, as well as Blood Orange – with Devonte Hynes featuring on the album – and co-producer Jim-E Stack.
Visit here for North American tickets and more information and here for tickets and details for UK and European dates.
