Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell

Lana Del Rey
Norman Fucking Rockwell
2019
Spotify

It's a bit foolish to think Lana Del Rey has always been the Lana Del Rey she is on this album. Her first few records, while apt for their time were a bit too focused on this idea of creating the persona that is Lana Del Rey. So many pointless debates about who she really was and what her music meant. Was it just performance? Was there nothing to gleam? Well clearly that was not the case because Lana has stood the test of time with this her sixth album. Norman Fucking Rockwell drops a lot of the pretense that has surrounded Lana Del Rey, it feels somehow even more free than anything she's done before. The Sublime cover "Doin' Time" is a masterclass in giving off the vibe of not giving a fuck while still creating something truly lovely. She feels unworried on this album and confident in her place in the world. It allows her to speak from a more honest and plain place. She can still weave a complex tale if the song calls for it, but songs like "love song" feel so raw and untouched by the outside world. It shows a burning love that is deep but also plainly honest and true. She does so much exploring musically on this album where songs like "Cinnamon Girl" sound like they were produced by Odesza while still maintaining that essential Lana-ness. So much music has been profoundly affected by the political strife America currently finds itself in, but Lana Del Rey instead of shying away, allows it to influence but not dominate.

All the typical criticisms leveled at Lana Del Rey can be applied here as well. The album is a bit too long, overblown and self indulgent to an extreme. But that is simply Lana Del Rey, and it's better to buy in and just allow that to be her personality, rather than wishing she was someone else. The songs themselves could be a bit tighter, but she gives them so much room to breathe and change that where you begin is never quite where you end up. Oddly despite multiple F bombs and some explicit language this record did not garner Lana a parental advisory sticker. It's a super solid record and one that is vastly different from what we think of as modern pop. It's refreshing to hear something as wonderfully different as this album.

8.6 out of 10