Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell (2019)

the already released songs are certainly louder.

New leeak is clean.

On first pass I'd only ditch "California". "How to Disappear" is a lovely little standout. I like that her stuff has essentially an inverse relationship with percussion compared to...whoever her peers are supposed to be at this point

the leak I had was 1/2 shitty sounding.

― akm, Tuesday, August 27, 2019

yes

she def has a better handle on controlling her leaks these days. I spent some time researching how all that other unreleased stuff flowed out and it was pretty messy. I mean, what amounted to like 4 albums worth of demos and outtakes and alternate mixes from the time immediately before and during Born to Die.

I wonder if she's still planning to do an odds n' sods collection.

OK, I would ditch "Bartender" and "California" but the rest is solid or better. I think this is her best album - wittier, woolier, simultaneously less serious and easier to take seriously.

I think this is her best album

will believe it's better than ultraviolence when i hear it but hoping you're right

It's not as tight obviously but I think it's a lil more distinctive

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

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)

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

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

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 ?

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

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"

on first pass this album is very good

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

Well, what a difference this new rip makes.

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

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 !

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

it's the same length

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

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

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

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).

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

the stutter in that song is such a great choice

Yes! Unexpected.

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.

Yeah on the whole this is her best album.

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

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!

(although the Kanye kiss-off is very satisfying)

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

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."

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?

Work your way back.

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

Album ranking:

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

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.

(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.

"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.

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.

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

I'm sure Yoko likes it.

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

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?

Maybe they provide some bad quality drugs backstage.

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

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

I prefer Lust For Life over Honeymoon

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