Lorde announces new single ‘Man of the Year’
Lorde has described the song as "an offering from really deep inside me" and "the song I’m proudest of on Virgin"
By Gary Grimes
Lorde has announced the next single from her upcoming album Virgin is called ‘Man of the Year’ and will be released next week.
In a post on Instagram announcing the song, she wrote: “Man Of The Year. An offering from really deep inside me. The song I’m proudest of on Virgin. Out next week. Shot by Talia Chetrit.”
It’s understood that the song will cover the singer’s changing relationship with her gender, which has been a frequent topic of conversation of the artist’s ongoing press campaign to support the album.
Rolling Stone reported recently that the song opens with the lyrics: “Some days I’m a woman/ Some days I’m a man.” In the same interview, the ‘Royals’ singer told the publication that she had confided in fellow artist Chappell Roan about the status of her gender identity.
“[Chappell Roan] asked me this … She was like, ‘So, are you nonbinary now?’” she revealed.
“I was like, ‘I’m a woman except for the days when I’m a man,’” she went on. “I know that’s not a very satisfying answer, but there’s a part of me that is really resistant to boxing it up.”
The artwork for ‘Man of the Year’ is reminiscent of Lorde’s recent look Thom Browne-designed look at the 2025 Met Gala. Speaking on the red carpert at the event, the singer teased that the look was a hint at what was to come, saying: “This is custom Thom Browne, [and] this is my creation. It’s something of an Easter egg… More will be revealed.
“I just love the open back,” she went on. “It really represents where I’m at, gender-wise. I love it. I feel like a man and a woman, you know?”
The artist’s statements echoed that which she made earlier this month in an interview with Document Journal. In a conversation with artist Martine Syms, Lorde spoke of writing her recent single ‘What Was That’ and how it coincided with her “gender broadening”.
“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?” she recalled.