co-managing director David Ventura. “She writes and sings music which will still be played in 100 years’ time.”
This is a reputation that’s been both well-earned, and hard fought for. “I know for myself [at the beginning of my career] it took years of walking into the same [kind of] labels I’m signed to now to have a chance to be understood as a person telling a story rather than a trend,” Lana tells Music Week. “I fought very hard for that and I’m so glad I did. People may get caught up now and then in the fact that I have a strong look or presentation, but at the end of the day what’s important to me is the fact that I’ve been able to tell my life’s stories, dreams and encounters for over a decade, and that in itself is a triumph.”
B
ack to the wants and needs Lana was referring to when she was figuring things out this past year. When discussing White Dress, she explains that, as a songwriter, she needs to feel freedom. Freedom to be the “observer” and to have “a defining direction in life but also be able to swim downstream easily enough without being snagged”. And that freedom, it seems, matters outside of songcraft, too. “My biggest need is to walk into a room and be seen for myself rather than just a person who’s more visible than anybody else,” she adds later. “For me, that requires a lot of moving around sometimes, so I’m in a place where people value someone for who they are, rather than whether they have something to get from them.”
“I’ve been able to tell my life’s stories for over a decade, that in itself is a triumph” LANA DEL REY
“Lana’s a talent the world sees once in a century”
VENTURA, SONY MUSIC PUBLISHING
DAVID
It’s a sentiment that seems to chime with another of Chemtrails’ standout moments: Dark But Just A Game – a slow-burn meditation that sees Lana sing, ‘Don’t even want what’s mine, much less the fame.’ But is it meant as a message to her audience, or as a reminder to herself? “It’s both,” she explains. “We all need our own little self-reminders. I put a lot of them into my own work to look back to. The chorus in that song is, ‘We keep changing all the time, the best ones lost their minds but I’m not gonna change. I’ll stay the same.’ It’s interesting as I think about my own lyrics [and] when I look at that phrase, I think I’ve developed such a serious inner core that there’s no way I could ever really change and, fundamentally, I feel so good and firm in that goodness. The dichotomy is that, at the same time, I’m a very sensitive person with a somewhat delicate disposition that comes from my upbringing, so while I’ll never change fundamentally, there’s a lot I’m going to have to do to stay the same and stay cheerful.”
Last year, Lana cited Tap Music’s understanding of her sensitivity as the key way in which they have helped her. Her breakout success conjured a vast bibliography of think pieces spawning criticism, trolling and numerous ways in which she could be misunderstood. In her recent interview with Annie Mac, meanwhile, Lana reflected on the highs and lows of releasing music into the world, saying it often feels like a case of, ‘What’s the controversy going to be this time?’ Chemtrails sparked headlines when Lana revealed its cover – a black and white photo depicting her with her best friends – and immediately addressed the diversity of the people represented on its cover.
“Before I even put the album cover up I knew what people were going to say,” she told Mac.
National anthems: Lana Del Rey performs at Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, New York in 2019 and (opposite) Lana’s discography, including (bottom) Chemtrails Over The Country Club
30 | Music Week
musicweek.com
PHOTO: Kevin Kane / Getty
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