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omewhere in LA, Lana Del Rey – who has been busy “staying in touch with the news and myself while staying off
the grid” – is holding court with Music Week. It is, quite frankly, astounding that she’s found the time to do this – or anything else for that matter – given the prolific streak she’s on right now.
A recap: in August 2019, she released her sixth studio record Norman Fucking Rockwell! – not only a UK No.1, but also the most critically acclaimed album of her career. With its impact still in full effect, in 2020 she released Violet Bent Backwards
level of commercial and critical success on their sixth record. There is, in fact, a real sense not just of excitement about what Chemtrails can do, but also genuine curiosity…
Universal appeal: (L-R) Joie Manda, David Joseph, John Janick, Steve Berman, Ben Mawson, Lana Del Rey, Sir Lucian Grainge, Sam Riback, Ed Millett and Frank Briegmann attend Grainge’s 2020 Artist Showcase in Hollywood, California
Over The Grass, a poetry book that was also turned into a beautiful spoken-word album. And now, in 2021? She’s already unveiling her spectacular seventh album, Chemtrails Over The Country Club. The cumulative impression is of an artist working overtime to keep pace with her muse. We can’t help but wonder what’s been behind this burst of creativity…
“Well, I was able to write the entirety of my spoken-word album when I was completely out of a relationship,” she begins. “So, I felt a very clear channel, uninhibited by the concerns of whether or not a relationship would be maintained. Without even meaning to, I was able to write a pretty coherent small book of poetry, which has continued to really surprise me and make me proud. That’s one of those lightning-in-a-bottle moments that you just cannot pass up.” But when it came to making the follow-up to NFR!? Well, that would be a different story…
“In terms of the music, I had a good start for the style of where I was going that was a continuation from my last record,” she tells Music Week. “This one felt more like a trudge rather than a joyful spring-of-the-step walk through that I had in the last record which is OK, that happens sometimes. But I do believe an artist’s creations are a manifestation of what’s going on inside, so I think it was a reflection of being at a standstill within myself in terms of trying to figure out what my next move in life was.”
“I don’t think we saw a single negative review on Norman, I don’t know if we can improve upon that,” laughs Mawson. “I don’t know what it can do for her other than just keep cementing her position as one of the best songwriters in the world,” says Tap’s Ed Millett, who co-manages Lana with Mawson. “She’s had a career-long battle to be fully understood [regarding] how good she is as a writer. Some people got it. Some people at the beginning were suspicious for a whole host of reasons. But, certainly with Norman, it really
“Lana was accused of being a fraud, really she was a
BEN MAWSON, TAP MUSIC
While Chemtrails may have felt like a trudge, it sounds anything but: 11 gorgeous tracks conjured by Lana, Jack Antonoff, and a few other revered collaborators. “Coming off Norman Fucking Rockwell!, she’s in the best place she’s been in almost from the beginning of her career,” beams Polydor’s Tom March (co-president at the label alongside Ben Mortimer). It’s worth considering just how impressive that is.
It’s approaching 10 years since Lana brought the music world to a standstill with her all-eclipsing single Video Games. One of relatively few singles to go viral not by virtue of an accompanying dance or novelty shtick, but rather on the pure strength of its songwriting, its compelling video offering a portal to a lost America and the air of mystery it cultivated. Coupled with its 4x platinum 2012 parent album, Born To Die (1,248,425 sales – OCC), Lana recast pop in her own image. Her co-manager Ben Mawson still seems overawed by the enormity of that breakthrough moment. “I can’t really remember anything like the way she blew up at the time,” he tells Music Week from Tap Music’s HQ. The wall behind him – a veritable museum of LDR plaques – is a firm reminder that this impact was not short-lived. Indeed, in the time since Born To Die, Lana has established herself as one of the most preternaturally talented and successful singer-songwriters in the world. According to Official Charts Company data, each of her albums since has gone gold in the UK (2014’s Ultraviolence – 254,760 sales; 2015’s Honeymoon – 140,162; 2017’s Lust For Life – 134,304; and Norman Fucking Rockwell! – 137,701). That Norman Fucking Rockwell! sold well is important – not many artists find that
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made people realise how good she is. This record shows that wasn’t a fluke.” “It’s an exceptional place to be in creatively, but one of the beautiful things about Lana is that every 12 months there’s more music,” adds March. “She marches to the beat of her own drum.” Lana’s been spending time working out the particular rhythms of that drum of late, especially as she went into making Chemtrails. She knew where she wanted to go, but even now she’s not sure she got there...
revolutionary”
“I think for myself, as well as a lot of other female singers I know, I’m often trying to figure out if the place I’m searching to get to is an actual location or a point of view from within myself to operate from,” she says. “I’m generally operating on a lot of levels in my daily life – I’m figuring out where I like to write from, what I want to write about, whether or not I’m generally on my truest life path, and if I’m smiling every day. When I was writing Norman I had a lot of physical bench points I had to hit, like [playing] 18 shows all through the Midwest. But in this last year, I’ve had a lot of time to check in with myself – it’s been complicated trying to navigate that road from my head to my heart. We’re always evolving and changing, but sometimes I change so fast I’m catching up to my own wants and needs.”
More on those wants and needs in due course. First, there’s one of 2021’s most highly-anticipated albums to dive into…
ne of the most jaw-dropping moments on Chemtrails even caught its own creator by surprise. It came when Lana was in the studio and she heard Jack Antonoff “noodling” around on the piano. “I just stepped up to the microphone and started ad-libbing an entire song, which was only somewhat modified with layered vocals,” she recalls. “That only happens once in a while, and it also started off as kind of a joke [with] me not really knowing what I was saying or singing about.”
The resulting song was christened White Dress – a majestic ballad with a narrative that flips between waitressing shifts and music business conferences in Orlando, all delivered with graceful melodies and impassioned whispers. “It’s my favourite song on the record,” praises Tom March. “I just love the way she sings on it. She sings in a way that I’ve never heard before.” “What’s funny is it doesn’t necessarily break new ground,” suggests Lana. “It just brings me back to that good ol’ fashioned feeling of getting lucky and being able to express myself without really having a second thought about needing to edit it. That’s what the sentiment is about, being brought back to a time when things felt the purest.”
The song is yet another testament to the power of the Lana/Jack Antonoff creative partnership that established itself on Norman Fucking Rockwell!. In fact, Chemtrails not only bears his sonic fingerprints, but also his voice.
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PHOTOS: Chuck Grant, Lester Cohen / Getty
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