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What Does Lorde’s ‘Virgin’ First-Week Performance Say About the Album’s Ultimate Legacy?
This week's Five Burning Questions looks at Lorde's No. 2 bow for 'Virgin' on the Billboard 200.
Lorde’s first album in four years was preceded by plenty of pop-blog buzz but no major comeback single or viral hit, calling into question what type of commercial performance Virgin would earn when offered to the general public. 2 debut, with a greater equivalent album units total than 2021’s Solar Power, is an unequivocal win for Lorde, and points to her continued appeal as a career pop artist whose work is digested in full-length statements. Which isn’t to say she played it safe with Virgin — whose lyrical focus is arguably more intensely personal and occasionally uncomfortable than she’s ever been — but that in itself is just a little more Lorde-fan-friendly a proposition than a set of relatively chill songs about sunning on the beach and getting baked at the nail salon.
Or read this on Billboard