Full-bodied red lips in evidence, false eyelashes and eyeliner for the gothic touch, grunge checkered waistcoat and left hand splint for the hint of derision, Lana Del Rey poses on the front page of the new issue of the British magazine Mojo. A new pledge of credibility for the 35-year-old Californian pop diva, this rock monthly is rather accustomed to posthumous covers on Bowie, Cohen and Lennon or living legends in their sixties. In the interview, the only one granted to the press, the singer confides that the many interviews given during the first four years of her fame have literally “Burnt”.
It must be said that the criticism, divided, has not always been kind to Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (her real name in the civil status) since the tidal wave caused by her hit Video Games in 2012. Lana Del Rey asserts in Mojo often felt humiliated by questions fraught with haughty innuendo, when journalists suspected her of being a starlet made by record companies – which is not true.
Seven albums later, she proved that her talent was not fleeting. Creatively disciplined, discreet about her private life, Lana Del Rey records albums at an annual rate, a prolificacy that allows her to allow herself some artistic deviations without too many consequences. After a slump between 2015 and 2018, his sixth opus, Norman Fucking Rockwell (2019) was acclaimed and awarded the Grammy for Best Album. Since then was released, in September 2020, a separate disc, Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass, collection of his poems set to music. A rare privilege in an environment mainstream dominated by urban music.
Stripped compositions
Chemtrails Over the Country Club, seventh album, prolongs this creative phase without blowing on the embers of the success of the previous one. All eleven songs were produced and co-written with Jack Antonoff, discovered by Taylor Swift and playing partner since Norman Fucking Rockwell. In forty minutes, the disc is the shortest of Lana Del Rey, a desire to prune that we find in relatively stripped-down compositions. “We took things back and forth, until we found the essence of Chemtrails Over the Country Club “, Jack Antonoff commented on Instagram. The recording was very spontaneous during sessions confined to the New York studio Electric Lady: “Mostly live takes, when things had just been written. Songs like White Dress and Not All Who Wander Are Lost reflect those first moments when words and music suddenly take shape. “
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