Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell (2019)

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I hadn't realized Antonoff worked on almost every song. Dude's a machine.

Simon H., Tuesday, 27 August 2019 22:16 (five years ago) link

Lastly I have now heard "Looking for America" and it's gorgeous enough that I don't begrudge its overall dopeyness. It deserves to be on the album (though I am aware it was recorded too late for physical consideration)

Simon H., Tuesday, 27 August 2019 23:11 (five years ago) link

the shitty leak from a week or two ago was sourced from a cassette that shipped really early and is missing "how to disappear" but thanks for the heads up that it leaked in good quality

on first listen it's probably beaten out ultraviolence as her best, my only real complaint is it's a little long. i might cut "doin' time" because it's a little out of place and "bartender" which is one of the weaker tracks but by no means bad. it's all very solid

ufo, Wednesday, 28 August 2019 05:38 (five years ago) link

I actually like having Doin' Time in there, it feels strangely personal

Simon H., Wednesday, 28 August 2019 08:40 (five years ago) link

hum better than Ultraviolence ? Glad to hear that and even more excited !
"Doin' Time" does sound a little out of place among the already released material but it's a nice light summer song so I guess it will be a kind of bubble in the album.
The album will be released this week, right ?

AlXTC from Paris, Wednesday, 28 August 2019 08:46 (five years ago) link

yeah it's out on the 30th

"venice bitch" is still the clear standout but i especially like "cinnamon girl" and "how to disappear" too

ufo, Wednesday, 28 August 2019 09:42 (five years ago) link

for some reason I never really clocked "Hope is a dangerous thing..." much when it first came out but it's fucking me up now

I had fifteen-year dances
Church basement romances, yeah, I've cried
Spilling my guts with the Bowery Bums
Is the only love I've ever known
Except for the stage, which I also call home, when I'm not
Servin' up God in a burnt coffee pot for the triad
Hello, it's the most famous woman you know on the iPad
Calling from beyond the grave, I just wanna say, "Hi, Dad"

Simon H., Wednesday, 28 August 2019 10:32 (five years ago) link

on first pass this album is very good

devvvine, Wednesday, 28 August 2019 10:35 (five years ago) link

"hope is a dangerous thing..." works much better as album closer than single

ufo, Wednesday, 28 August 2019 10:46 (five years ago) link

Well, what a difference this new rip makes.

TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 10:53 (five years ago) link

totally agree re: hope. it didn't do much for me before but it got me a little choked up when i heard it at the end of the album

diamonddave85​​ (diamonddave85), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 12:14 (five years ago) link

Well it was certainly a weird track to release as a single, even without listening to the rest of the album.
That said, "Venice Bitch" was also a weird choice if you consider its length, especially in today's 3min tracks culture !

AlXTC from Paris, Wednesday, 28 August 2019 12:36 (five years ago) link

Does the album keep the full jam at the end or is it shorter?

Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 12:51 (five years ago) link

it's the same length

ufo, Wednesday, 28 August 2019 12:57 (five years ago) link

'hope is a dangerous thing' is one of my favorite songs of hers, the lyrics are incredible.

akm, Wednesday, 28 August 2019 13:09 (five years ago) link

the pre-chorus on fuck it i love you is so lush and beautiful, i just wish the actual hook was stronger

devvvine, Wednesday, 28 August 2019 14:19 (five years ago) link

Au contraire: "Bartender" boasts some of the album's sharpest lyrics.

TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 14:20 (five years ago) link

Yeah the pre-chorus on "FIILU" is the best part of the song (but the part right before, in a kinda of staccato, is also great to enhance the rhythmic contrast of the song).

AlXTC from Paris, Wednesday, 28 August 2019 14:26 (five years ago) link

Goddamn it Alfred, when you're right, you're right.

Simon H., Wednesday, 28 August 2019 14:47 (five years ago) link

the stutter in that song is such a great choice

devvvine, Wednesday, 28 August 2019 16:25 (five years ago) link

Yes! Unexpected.

TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 17:02 (five years ago) link

The first verse of "Bartender" is like a particularly vicious parody of Joni Mitchell. And just in general this album is a master class in how to record vocals.

shared unit of analysis (unperson), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 17:56 (five years ago) link

Yeah on the whole this is her best album.

I think the mix on Venice bitch is slightly different but only barely

akm, Wednesday, 28 August 2019 18:18 (five years ago) link

I haven't found quite the words to articulate this yet, but the lyrics on this one just feel much more consistent and contiguous than ever before, less shticky/persona-driven than anything she's done before. Not just the contemporary references (although the Kanye kiss-off is very satisfying), but the constant circling back to a couple of main themes, esp the simultaneous allure and terror of retrograde romantic ideals, as well as the scattered references to alcoholism and recovery. It's truly affecting, not simply affected!

Simon H., Wednesday, 28 August 2019 18:33 (five years ago) link

(although the Kanye kiss-off is very satisfying)

Was that line - "black narcissist" - about him? I thought it was about Azealia Banks...

shared unit of analysis (unperson), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 18:39 (five years ago) link

she's said the "black narcissist" line (thankfully) explicitly does not refer to race, I think that's just a metaphor for her own bad impulses. "The Greatest" features the line "Kanye West is blonde and gone."

Simon H., Wednesday, 28 August 2019 18:42 (five years ago) link

I’ve never paid much attention to LDR after ILX clowned Video Games so severely out of the gates, but Venice Bitch is such a good song. That vulnerability and longing in her voice on the chorus is something else. Where do I go next?

Mazzy Tsar (PBKR), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 18:47 (five years ago) link

Work your way back.

Siegbran, Wednesday, 28 August 2019 18:50 (five years ago) link

Yeah, honestly just start with this one (out Friday if you're not into l33ks)

Simon H., Wednesday, 28 August 2019 18:54 (five years ago) link

Album ranking:

Norman Fucking Rockwell
Ultraviolence
Honeymoon
Lust For Life
Born To Die: The Paradise Edition

shared unit of analysis (unperson), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 19:01 (five years ago) link

The timing is perfect to release such a great album. This might just cement her as a top 3 artist of the 2010’s in the inevitable decade revision. She was consistent throughout the decade, her lows weren’t abysmal and she’s closing the year with what feels like a mature statement record.

I honestly didn’t think she had such an album in her after “lust for life” which felt to me like her blandest record.

✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 19:08 (five years ago) link

(xpost) I'd agree with that ranking. Make sure you do listen to the Paradise Edition though because it has Ride on it which is one of her all time best songs.

akm, Wednesday, 28 August 2019 19:09 (five years ago) link

"her lows weren’t abysmal"

well her SNL performance was but maybe people don't remember that so much now.

it's interesting (to me anyway) to compare/contrast this album and her career with Marina Diamandas'; they both started out around the same time with slightly similar types of debuts, but where Marina's output has gotten (IMO) worse with each release, culminating in an incredibly dull and boring 'adult' sounding album this year, LDR also has released what might be called an 'adult' album but it's , well, not boring. Not sure where I'm going with that but it crossed my mind just now.

akm, Wednesday, 28 August 2019 19:16 (five years ago) link

I honestly didn’t think she had such an album in her after “lust for life” which felt to me like her blandest record.

The curse of Sean Lennon.

shared unit of analysis (unperson), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 19:18 (five years ago) link

I might be the only person who kind of loves that song lol

Simon H., Wednesday, 28 August 2019 19:22 (five years ago) link

I'm sure Yoko likes it.

shared unit of analysis (unperson), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 19:27 (five years ago) link

I like LFL better than most; perhaps the surfeit of guests softened it.

TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 19:32 (five years ago) link

Xxxpost: oh yeah that SNL performance is a potential career killer but SNL usually has some terrible performances, I wonder why it is? Tight rehearsal times? Lack of monitor speakers, terrible engineers?

✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 19:35 (five years ago) link

Maybe they provide some bad quality drugs backstage.

✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 19:38 (five years ago) link

shitty sound in their setup is (or used to be) a common complaint

Simon H., Wednesday, 28 August 2019 19:38 (five years ago) link

not that i really give a shit about her politics but theres still something validating abt her worldview seeming as facile to me as her music

ILX’s bad boy (D-40), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 19:39 (five years ago) link

I prefer Lust For Life over Honeymoon

Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 19:45 (five years ago) link

I can't argue w/ unperson's ranking. Born to Die really has not aged well for me, for the most part.

Simon H., Wednesday, 28 August 2019 19:46 (five years ago) link

I prefer Lust For Life over Honeymoon

― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles),

same

TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 19:49 (five years ago) link

I bet Stevie NIcks kicks herself every morning for never coming up with "Beautiful People Beautiful Problems."

TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 19:50 (five years ago) link

Bartender has a very beautiful melody, as does NFR. I do think having so many excellent songs released far in advance throws the listening experience off, somewhat.

Funky Isolations (jed_), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 20:04 (five years ago) link

"My baby used to dance underneath my architecture"-- what an opening line...

This is wonderful all the way through, but not better than Ultraviolence or Honeymoon for me yet. Her cover of Doin' Time is such an outrageous flex...

J. Sam, Wednesday, 28 August 2019 20:15 (five years ago) link

born to die still pwns yall are nuts

diamonddave85​​ (diamonddave85), Wednesday, 28 August 2019 20:43 (five years ago) link

It's a great album though I'd snip some songs off it and it certainly sounds of a time.

akm, Wednesday, 28 August 2019 21:08 (five years ago) link

NFR and Ultraviolence are pretty easily her two best, the other three are all quite inconsistent but have their moments. i'd probably put Lust for Life as her worst since it's way too long and has some real clunkers on it

ufo, Thursday, 29 August 2019 00:18 (five years ago) link


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