Lorde plays new album ‘Virgin’ in full at Glastonbury 2025 secret set

27 June, 2025

Lorde at Glastonbury 2025

Lorde kicked off Glastonbury 2025 with a secret set showcasing her new album, ‘Virgin’, on its day of release – check out some of the footage below.

The singer is the first main music act to open this year’s festival with her Woodsies tent set, with Supergrass kicking things off on the Pyramid Stage at 12pm.

Access to the Woodsies area was shut shortly before her set, with the festival making an announcement that the tent and field were at capacity.

Lorde began at 11:30am, and she launched straight into her most recent single and album opener ‘Hammer’, before proceeding to run through ‘Virgin’ in full  – with all songs being given their live debuts – amid strobe lighting.

Lorde at Glastonbury 2025
Lorde at Glastonbury 2025. CREDIT: Derek Bremner for NME

 

‘What Was That’, the album’s lead single, was a particular highlight, with Lorde pulling her white T-shirt over her head while the crowd sang her lyrics back at her, while for ‘Shapeshifter’ she got down on one knee and twisted and turned around the stage throughout.

“I decided to play the whole record front to back,” she told the crowd. “This record took me a lot – I didn’t know if I would make another record to be honest, but I am back [and] completely free.

Lorde at Glastonbury 2025
Lorde at Glastonbury 2025. CREDIT: Derek Bremner for NME

“It’s gonna be a sick fucking Glastonbury,” she added to cries of “we love you” from festivalgoers, before proceeding with the second half of the album.

With the set almost over, Lorde announced that she’d be performing a song that made its Glastonbury debut in 2017, before moving onto her 2013 single ‘Ribs’ while standing on a chair. To finish, she played ‘Green Light’, one of her signature songs, and it felt like a fitting way for the star to announce a triumphant return to the festival.

Lorde’s set, while officially down as ‘TBA’ on the Glastonbury listings, was something of an open secret after she shared an aerial photo of the Woodsies area on her Instagram story yesterday.

Lorde at Glastonbury 2025
Lorde at Glastonbury 2025. CREDIT: Derek Bremner for NME

Lorde’s 2025 Glastonbury setlist was:

‘Hammer’
‘What Was That’
‘Shapeshifter’
‘Man Of The Year’
‘Favourite Daughter’
‘Current Affairs’
‘Clearblue’
‘GRWM’
‘Broken Glass’
‘If She Could See Me Now’
‘David’
‘Ribs’
‘Green Light’

In a four-star review of ‘Virgin’, NME wrote: “Ultimately, ‘Virgin’ is a vibrant combination of Lorde’s best qualities, and then some. With her newfound candour, the record combines the emotional whirlwind of ‘Melodrama’, the chilling minimalism of ‘Pure Heroine’ and the breezy freedom of ‘Solar Power’. This might be called ‘Virgin’, but Lorde proves she’s not afraid to strip herself bare.

Still to come this weekend are headliners Olivia Rodrigo, The 1975, and Neil Young, as well as the likes of Charli XCX, Raye, Biffy Clyro, Loyle Carner, Rod Stewart and The Prodigy.

Check back at NME here for the latest news, reviews, interviews, photos and more from Glastonbury 2025.

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