Is Norman F***ing Rockwell Lana Del Rey at her best?
Lana Del Rey has produced the sound of a young generation. Her music is classic yet original, often anthemic yet gentle. Ultimately she expresses emotion and feeling in a way no other artist has managed- absolutely solidifying her as one of the most important and impressive artists of the 21st century. Her latest album Norman F***ing Rockwell is arguably Lana at her most impressive. However to understand her latest work we must understand her past
Born to die (Paradise edition) unveiled a new alternative sound in 2012. With poetic lyrics laced with a dark intensity, all under the guild of her catchy melodic pop sound, she shot to fame. Despite the media’s criticism of her new persona (as she moved on from Lizzy Grant and her previous work) as-well as the denunciation of her live vocals on SNL, the ingenuity behind that first album kept her afloat, in an industry full of pirañas.
The classic and timeless feel to songs like ‘Bel air’, ‘American’ ‘Yayo’, ‘Ride’ and ‘Video games’, were perfectly supported by emotionally charged ballads such as ‘This is what makes us girls’ and ‘Blue jeans’. These songs were comprised with lyrical excellence. The album also included catchy pop hits like ‘Summertime sadness’, ‘Off to the races’, and ‘Body electric’. Lana Del Rey as an artist has this ability to blend styles- whilst successfully bringing back that vintage timeless sound, accompanied by poetic lyrics, she managed to combine modern pop music. This alternative genre she nestled herself in with through this album followed her through into her later work. It is interesting how artists like Marina and the diamonds who experimented with a similar techno-pop style didn’t manage to uphold or develop the sound- eventually leading to her being weighed down by the first album and unable to pull through into the mid 2000s with the success she started with. The way Lana Del Rey managed to continue and even propel her success is by doing what she does best- evolving and maturing her sound.
Her next album Ultra-violence is a masterpiece. She managed to shed the skin of Born to die, and mature into an untamed, moodier, rockier sound. This album replaced the poppy juvenility of her first work, and became its darker, sophisticated big sister. There is an elegance to the way the music developed into more rock-indie sound- with raw weeping guitar, and sullen sulky drums. Some of the standout tracks include ‘Shades of cool’, ‘Brooklyn baby’, ‘West coast’, ‘Cruel world’, and ‘Florida kilos’.
Along with the honest, surly lyrics, the music and production really excelled, and showed an older, wiser and crueler side of Lana. Not only was the great reception from music critics a huge F-you to all those who rejected her initial image, but also the way her whole persona shifted with her music (eg. Dying her hair dark, becoming even more reserved and insular in the press etc.) made the whole shift in image feel more natural. This was refreshing to see an artist naturally mature and change her style in response to her circumstances and life changes, compared to other artists like Lady Gaga who change their image drastically and unnaturally as their music changes drastically and unnaturally, making it all feel a bit fake.
The heart wrenching, earthy lyrics, with her whiny and whimpering vocals made the sound so real and tender. It was like looking into a broken heart, or rubbing salt into an open wound. There is something so especially exposed and sensitive to the entire album, similar to the rawness of Nirvana’s In utero; both artists coming away from the polished first album to dig deeper into something more daring and painful.
The transition between Born to die to ultra violence was like picking at a scab until you reveal raw flesh. I only understood ultra violence as I also got older and experienced more. For a long time I was content with bopping away to the easy listening of the first album, but as I aged, I understood the music, the lyrics and the pain behind them more. It may be one of my favourite albums of all time, and one that only gets better with age.
In the wake of such a masterpiece came her next two albums Honeymoon and Lust for life, which for me were slightly disappointing. She seemed to lose the ingenuity of her first couple of albums, there was no natural evolution between albums as there was before, and the songs were simply not as strong- they were neither catchy nor poetic, it felt very stagnant.
With Lust for life she attempted to collaborate more with newer current artists at the time (perhaps in an effort to connect to a wider audience) However having ASAP Rocky appear on your track for no reason doesn’t change the mediocrity of the songwriting. Without the support of excellent songs it also revealed the weaknesses in her voice- she sounded more faded, and more distant, like her heart wasn’t in it. Some of the only songs I enjoyed from Honeymoon were ‘Terrence loves you’, ‘Art deco’ and ‘Swan song’ , then from Lust for life- ‘Cherry’, ‘Heroin’, ‘Tomorrow never came’ and ‘Get free’ (which are four of my favourite LDR songs, but just were unfortunately held hostage by an utterly average album.)
I think where the problem lies is the fact that both with Born to die and Ultra violence she was drawing on her experiences and her emotions, whereas these two albums felt slightly half-arsed.
This seems a very harsh critique, but it only comes from the fact her first two albums were incredible. Similarly what was frustrating was I expected a trilogy of strong albums, and assumed Honeymoon would be just as impressive. The fact it was so lukewarm, and Lust for life was just as redundant made it frustrating, because it felt she needed one more album to finish off the trilogy.
Then came Norman F***ing Rockwell, which exceeded expectation. I would call this a perfect album, in the same was Born to die and Ultra violence were, because I have every single song from each album downloaded (which is not an often occurrence). Every song goes beyond satisfaction, she actually manages to impress again. You can hear that she really pushed herself with this album, every song sounds complete, but not too polished. She maintains her honest lyrics, with a clear narrative voice, whilst pairing back on the instruments. ’Hope is dangerous thing…’ and ‘Bar tender’ are haunting ballads that bring back some of that class and sophistication previewed in her previous work. ‘Happiness is a Butterly’ and ‘Norman F***ing Rockwell’ are melodic and exquisitely beautiful. ‘Happiness is a butterfly’ is another track with only vocals and piano (and a few additional guitar and string accents), yet her exceedingly strong vocals fill the emptiness, and bring a fullness to the track. In fact all of the songs sound ample and rich even with limited production. Her voice is mature and confident in a way is has never been before. ‘Venice bitch’ and ‘Mariners apartment complex’ were excellent choices for singles, and are quintessentially Lana- but with a new and improved sound, drawing on influences from Mazzy star. ‘Doin’ time’ served as an original and fun cover which added even more life and excitement to the album. ‘Bar tender’ made me cry, ‘The greatest’ made me smile, ‘F*** it I love you’ made me dance, and ‘Cinnamon girl’ made me sing. Even the more soft and less obvious songs like ‘How to disappear’, ‘Love song’ , ‘California’ and ‘The next best American record' are comforting, beautiful, and just pleasant to listen to. It’s not hard to say this album is Lana at her best, certainly it concludes the trilogy of albums I was waiting for her to complete. Again if you place it after Ultra-violence you can hear, see and feel that transition from album to album, having left New York, found new friends, new love, and established a new more sun soaked life in California, her sound is lighter, more content but just as timeless.
I believe she has created three of the greatest albums of the 2000s and they will certainly go down in history, but they would not have been able to do so without Norman F***ing Rockwell completing the chapter. Surely Lana Del Rey at her best.
Lockdown has revealed a different side to Lana, I get the sense she feels slightly artistically lost. After the success of Norman F****ing Rockwell, it is hard to see where she will go next, as that last album seemed to blend and somehow combine the styles of all of her previous albums. Her controversial comments during lockdown certainly felt like odd behaviour, especially seeing how poorly she worded her arguments- it feels so out of character, because we know how eloquent she is in her songwriting.
However hopefully ‘Chemtrails over the country club’ will offer a new sound, and add another dimension into Lana Del Rey as an artist. Its hard to see how she will improve on the perfected sound she achieved in Norman F***ing Rockwell, but it will be interesting to see what she does next.
- Amelia
