Lana Del Rey attends the Pre-GRAMMY Gala on February 14, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty)
Lana Del Rey is a unique force in modern music.
Mixing downtrodden lyricism with an image modeled after 1950s Americana, Del Rey has been crafting hits since her debut album Born to Die in 2011. Her work has been described as cinematic, at times, and critics have praised her for her themes of love and tragedy. As a result, Del Rey (born Elizabeth Woolridge Grant) has steadily continued her rise to pop’s elite status, earning two BRIT Awards and three Grammy Award nominations.
So while Del Rey preps for the release of her fourth studio album, titled Lust For Life, we decided to compile every bit of information we could find, from guest features and production credits to what will distinguish the album in the singer’s discography. Here are five fast facts you need to know about Lana Del Rey’s Lust For Life.
1. It Was Announced In March
On March 29th, Del Rey announced her new album is spectacular fashion. She uploaded a 2:20 trailer that parades a series of creepy images and iconic landmarks to what sounds like a 1950s horror film score. As it turns out, Del Rey is living inside the “H” of the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, where her chilling voiceover says that “There’s no place I’d rather be than smack dab in the middle of Hollyweird making this record for you.” The singer also says that the world is transitioning “out of one era into another one,” an allusion that many believe to be aimed at current President Donald J. Trump.
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Less than a month later, Del Rey revealed the album’s artwork on Instagram. As can be seen above, it’s a departure from the “witchcraft” aesthetic of the trailer, and harkens back to the 1960s Americana of the singer’s previous album, Honeymoon (2015). The album is currently without an official release date, and is tentatively set for this spring.
2. It Will Have A Political Theme
In an interview with BBC Radio 2, Del Rey revealed that the album will have some political undertones. She says that actually began the recording process “thinking that the whole record was going to have sort of a, like, ’50s, ’60s feeling, with some kind of Shangri-La, early Joan Baez influences. Del Rey went on to explain that “As the climate kept on getting more heated politically, I found [that] lyrically everything was just directed towards that. So because of that, the sound just got really updated, and I felt like [talking] to the younger side of the audience I have. I guess it’s just a little more socially aware. That’s kind of a global feeling.”
This sheds some light on a series of messages that Del Rey tweeted at the beginning of the year, all of which aligned with the dates of the “waning crescent moon ritual.” According to Pitchfork, the occult practice was held in an attempt to remove Trump from his role of President.
3. The First Single Was ‘Love’
Before even announcing the title of her new album, Del Rey released the first single, “Love,” in February. The romantic tune was received with rave reviews from critics, as PopCrush deemed it an “enchanting mid-tempo ode to the hope of youth and love” and Pitchfork said that it “reassures the listener that the feeling can still lift, that love can still conqeur.” The accompanying music video for the single echoed this idea, as it cuts between Del Rey singing on a stage and a series of young couples getting ready to go to the beach.
While promoting the song, Del Rey described the differences between Lust For Life and her previous albums, which were noted for their melancholy mood, saying that “I made my first four albums for me, but this one is for my fans and about where I hope we are all headed.”
4. Sean Lennon Will Appear On the Album
In a recent interview with Dazed magazine, Del Rey revealed some of the musicians that she is working with on Lust For Life. Singer/songwriter Sean Lennon will appear on a track called “Tomorrow Never Came,” in what is acknowledged to a riff on his father’s 1966 masterpiece “Tomorrow Never Knows.” In fact, the similarities between the two songs is what made Del Rey reluctant to contact Lennon in the first place, as she explained to Dazed: I didn’t know If I should ask him because I actually have a line in it in where I say ‘I wish we could go back to your country house and put on the radio and listen to song by Lennon and Yoko. I didn’t want him to think I was asking because I was namechecking them.” The singer goes on to say that it was all “very meant-to-be because the whole concept of peace and love is really in his veins and in his family.”
Del Rey also worked with veteran producer Max Martin, whose produced for such varied artists as Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and Maroon 5. She told Dazed that she actually flew to Sweden to meet with Martin, who revised a few of the tracks on the album, and that she can’t wait to do more work with him in the near future.
5. The Second Single Was ‘Lust For Life’
Del Rey’s latest release from the album is the title track, which features vocals from close friend and fellow superstar The Weeknd. In the days leading up the song’s release, Del Rey spoke on the creative process behind the song, and why she wanted The Weeknd to be on it: “Maybe that’s kind of weird to have a feature on the title track, but I really love that song and we had said for a while that we were gonna do something.” The sentiment is clearly felt from both parties, as The Weeknd told Radio.com that Del Rey is “the girl in my music,” and that “I am the guy in her music. Listen to “Lust For Life” above.
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This is not the first time the two have joined forces on a song. In 2015, Del Rey appeared on the song “Prisoner” from The Weeknd’s Grammy-winning album Beauty Behind The Madness, and again in 2016 on the song “Stargirl” from the album Starboy.