Lana Del Rey (pictured above) showcases a fresh sound in her most recent album Norman Fucking Rockwell!. Del Rey is an indie-pop artist with unique meloncholy vocals (courtesy of jaguar cars).
Soft piano and gloomy, romantic lyrics are the staples of Lana Del Rey’s newest studio album Norman Fucking Rockwell!, released Friday Aug. 30. NFR! is Del Rey’s sixth studio album and marks a transition from the artist’s typically fast, sexy songs to morose, acoustic melodies.
This album is consistent with the complexity of Del Rey as we know her. She embraces a unique 70s sugar baby, Lolita, gold-digger image that other mainstream artists reject in favor of traditional images of power—kings, queens, pimps and rock stars. As in the song “Groupie Love” from Lust for Life, Del Rey subverts typical popstar imagery by painting herself as the groupie instead of the rock star or the girlfriend of the pretentious rich kid instead of being the rich kid herself.
NFR! maintains that image without wearing it out. “Venice Bitch,” “Mariners Apartment Complex” and “Cinnamon Girl” are songs that particularly highlight Del Rey’s sugar baby persona. These songs remind listeners that Del Rey can’t help but fall for toxic men and attempt to make them love her.
“Cinnamon Girl” suggests that Del Rey transitions from one toxic relationship to another. Del Rey sings, “if you hold me without hurting me / you’ll be the first who ever did.” It seems Del Rey succeeds in having the power in the relationship, singing “you try to push me out, but I just find my way back in.” Unfortunately, she can never quite be herself, evidenced when she sings “there’s things I want to talk about, but better not to give.”
The singer’s past songs are recalled in “Venice Bitch,” with its description of a romance between a beautiful bad boy and a young, wild girl. The song’s bad boy lover is a writer who calls Del Rey his “little Venice bitch” and asks her to be “stronger for [him].” The singer’s gold-digger façade comes back in the lyric “me myself I like diamonds,” referencing Del Rey’s attraction to a wealthy lifestyle.
“Mariners Apartment Complex” calls Del Rey “the lightning, the thunder / kind of girl who’s gonna make you wonder / who you are and who you’ve been.” This song allows Del Rey to assert that she still has power in any relationship even if she’s allowing herself to be tied to a man.
Other songs on NFR! reference struggles with depression. “How to Disappear” tells the story of Del Rey seeking comfort in a man who “pretend[s] that [he’s] still here” in the moment with her while she “[cries] on his shoulder ‘cause life is hard.” The song “California” notes that Del Rey’s lover “said to a friend that [he] wish[es] [he was] doing better,” because he’s “scared to win, scared to lose.”
The album’s saddest song may be “The Greatest.” This song highlights Del Rey’s exhaustion and longing to return to the past; “we didn’t know that we had it all / but nobody warns you before the fall,” she sings. “I’m facing the greatest / the greatest loss of them all.”
It turns out that “The Greatest” isn’t just about depression, though. The main cause for Del Rey’s worry is global warming, senseless political decisions and the end of the world. This is revealed when Del Rey sings, “L.A. is in flames, it’s getting hot / Kanye West is blond and gone / Life on Mars ain’t just a song.”
The smooth instrumental accompaniment to most songs on the album makes its lyrics more impactful and touching. NFR! is a complex mashup of Del Rey’s personal image, relationship issues and concerns for Earth’s future in both a political and environmental sense.