Lana Del Rey - Norman F***ing Rockwell (Album Review)
My history with Lana's material has been very up and down, and I'm often indecisive when it comes to delivering a verdict on her music: she always provides something to like but rarely without irritating and blunt flaws that only ever bring down a song. On many of her previous albums, the superficiality of her musical integrity was a major burden on enjoying the music. Whilst she's always had an audience, she's been the victim of slightly ridiculous criticisms about her transparent persona and composure. Some of this is founded in truth, as her blatant reinvention after the failure of her initial album as Lizzie Grant could be considered artificial, but in my opinion a persona is a valid and creative aspect to art, and the problems in her lyrics in the past have been about the lack of interesting subject matter and not their exaggerated or manufactured nature. Moreover, her persistent preoccupation with cheaply incorporating hip-hop into her music has been the bane of many otherwise enjoyable songs, a factor most frustrating on Lust For Life; this was an album that stood out for its own songwriting proficiency and composition and was definitely an improvement on anything she'd released before but it was ultimately Lana's hurtful infatuation with blending in trap and hip-hop elements for a more trend abiding sound that just resulting in clunky beats that neither suited the subjects nor the instrumentals.
Musically, the change is drastic and the harsh, tacky trap beats have thankfully been replaced by dusty trip-hop, and somehow it's the most Californian sounding music she's ever released. You'd expect that her most depressing album would stray away from her West Coast permanence, but it works extremely well given the themes explored on the album. Lana dives into some incredibly self conscious topics, and criticises herself through the stories on various relationships she's been through. Jack Antonoff's production is, aside from on or two very specific details, a flawless affair that not only supports the vocal delivery but totally enhances what's being said; whilst this is not a typical style for Antonoff to produce his attention to detail transitions exceptionally well into desert rock, although his impressions of extended psychedelic passages do drag on, particularly on the almost 10 minute "Venice B*tch" where the repetitive nature of the long midsection practically cancels out the gorgeous set up and perfectly acceptable but unremarkable coda. This track though is an outlier on the tracklist, and one that suffers as a result of being overambitious. For me, this is a signifier of massive improvement for Lana, where the flaws are something totally new and far more tolerable than those before.
The biggest criticism of Lana's career has been that of integrity - many music fans attack her for the facade of her lyrics that doesn't align with her actual self and claim this is some kind of fatal error and as a result she somehow doesn't deserve to make music. In my opinion, this is a stupid argument that ignores the creative aspect of having a persona and employing it consistently. The issue I may take from it is the lack of self-awareness in her often shallow or faux-deep lyrics, a fact I would respect people arguing as having carried over onto her newest music. She's undoubtedly improved as a songwriter, significantly on many of the album's tracks, but many of her motives do remain shallow. Thankfully and perhaps for the first time in her career, she's self aware enough to acknowledge and criticise this in the lyrics themselves, making for a curious experience that differs from any previous Lana album. As much as I enjoyed some of the last album, I couldn't help but feel slightly guilty of that fact given how lacking of this element it was, but here all I can do is praise her efforts and success at creating a proficient and consistent album. Even if she doesn't quite get to the stage where the self-awareness becomes self-analysis or a full change from her previous lyrical themes, but I don't have an issue with this. It's an album of feelings, with a satisfying helping of thinking thrown in there, one that focuses on dysfunction, remorse, craving and depression. It's an album that plays with ideas way beyond what she'd ever have explored before and the evolution from Lust for Life is a beautiful thing to behold.
Gorgeous arrangements, beautiful vocals and great writing contributes to "Mariners Apartment Complex" being the obvious standout, arguably of Lana's whole career. As the lead single, this song was an early indication of the angelic yet depressive sound that characterises this album, and whilst none of the other singles came close to eclipsing this they all brought their own different qualities to my attention. I found the regretfully lustful nature of "F*** it I love you" to be one of the most compelling tracks here, Lana's singing gliding over the smoothest instrumental on the album whilst her cover of Sublime's "Doin' Time" became my late-summer jam. Another phenomenal highlight would have to be the heartbreaking "How to disappear", an incredibly introspective and depressive track that finds Lana at her lowest point when confronted by an abusive, toxic relationship and no breaks from the media. It feels like a suitable aftermath to not only previous tracks on this album but also most of the content in her last few albums, and I can imagine this trip-hop influenced track growing on me further with time.
Conclusively, this is Lana's best album. She's far removed from her comfort zone, as is Jack Antonoff as a producer, but their combined focus on the intricacies of both storytelling and instrumental detail and the result is an incredibly developed record that probably presents itself as more intellectual as it is, this factor playing into how much critical acclaim it has received across the board (a 9.4 from Pitchfork, 5 stars from NME and an 8/10 from Theneedledrop). Yes, there's some filler, some unnecessary songs and some underwhelming moments, but it's her first album that doesn't have a single bad song on it. Don't get me wrong, she definitely has room to grow, but in the here and now I'll be enjoying the surprising quality, intricate instrumentals and engrossing lyrics she has to offer on Norman F***ing Rockwell. This album gets a light 8 out of 10 from me, and I really hope she can keep this up.
Best Songs: Mariners Apartment Complex; How to disappear; The greatest; F*** it I love you; Norman F***ing Rockwell; Love Song; California; Doin' Time; hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have - but i have it
Worst Songs: Bartender; The Next Best American Record
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"Norman F***ing Rockwell"
Lana Del Rey
30/08/2019
30/08/2019
Polydor Records/Interscope
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