Fans finally hear Lorde's new album in full at intimate parties around NZ

The air was thick with anticipation and intrigue. The same sense of curiosity and obligation was shared by the dozens of admirers who keenly felt the necessity to absorb the latest full-length statement from Ella Yelich-O’Connor, better known to millions around the world as Lorde, two days ahead of time.

It has been an eventful, guerrilla-styled rollout for Virgin - Lorde's fourth studio album and follow up to 2021’s Solar Power.

In recent months, the 28-year-old has popped up like a meercat at numerous spots, including Washington Square Park, a Lorde-themed club night in Sydney, even bathroom cubicles at a YMCA in central Auckland have served as feverish backdrops.

Related stories:

The three singles (“What Was That”, “Man of the Year”, “Hammer”) preceding the album’s release have been paired with provocative visuals, alongside the album’s curious artwork, depicting an X-ray image of a pelvis with a belt buckle, pant zipper, and anintrauterine device.

It would have been startling, but not exactly off-brand, if she had surfaced at Flying Nun in central Christchurch for Wednesday’s listening party, one of over 40 events held across the globe this week.

Dozens had already descended on the store at least 45 minutes before the event, where the first 80 through the door were gifted an album poster.

Cousins Huia Sinclair and Xanthe Roper were part of the throng gathered and said both of their first concert experiences during Lorde’s Melodrama tour.

“There’s a lot of nostalgia behind her music for me. Like singing in the car with my mum and hanging out with our family,” Xanthe said.

“There’s a certain magic to her music.”

Another longtime fan Caleb Langdale-Hunt said he felt proud to see a New Zealander on the global pop music stage.

He said he had been impressed with Lorde’s pre-album material, particularly latest single “Hammer”.

“I think it’s brilliant,” he said.

“The way she’s marketed them, the YMCA bathroom was amazing.

“I think she’s really hit out of the park and I can’t wait to hear the rest of it.”

Meanwhile friends Hamish Giddens and Libby Bush could barely contain their excitement after the pair coordinated in a bid to get to the event as early as possible.

“We’ve been talking about this for so long,” Giddens said.

“I feel she speaks on how she feels and it’s so raw and that’s what I appreciate because I don’t think many other artists are saying what they really feel.”

Several fans that RNZ spoke to felt the singles released from the album to this point stylistically harked back to the anthemic dancefloor-orientated Melodrama, compared to the stripped back acoustics of Solar Power.

Suddenly the chitchat faded, the lights dimmed, the big album reveal was in full effect.

As Jim-E-Stack’s stinging production took centre stage on album opener “Hammer”, event attendees all sit down in unison, phones are banished, as the room quietly hangs on every note and lyric.

A few opt to stand and dance as the chorus swells, but for the majority there, it is very much a muted, almost meditative experience. Eyes closed, heads gently nodding.

Lucy Donaldson told RNZ she liked the strong “community vibe” of the event.

“As soon as they turned off the lights, I think everyone just got really comfortable. They were like ‘okay nice fluffy rug, don’t mind if I sit down’,” she said.

Then the album stream drops out in the store, breaking the spell.

There is about a 20-minute holding pattern marked by a couple of false starts and a call to the record company by Flying Nun staff.

Despite the inconvenience, everyone remains sympathetic, if not unbothered.

The technical glitches are ironed out and we get through all 35 minutes of the record.

Although little can be said or revealed about the yet-to-be-released music, warm applause meets the end of all eleven tracks, with some mouthing the lyrics of the already familiar singles.

“I think every Lorde album is really different, and I think that’s what makes her really special. You’re kind of watching her evolve and grow through her music.

“What we’ve heard so far is very sick, and very experimental."