If there’s something to be said for Lana Del Rey’s latest, she has finally come full circle as an artist by redefining the Americana set in place by famous artist Norman Rockwell. His work is hard to forget, capturing a youthful innocence within a distinguished artwork that transports the audience back decades. Rockwell’s work suggests that things were simpler then, capturing a nostalgia that lives on in the heart of a generation. The very idea of nostalgia has been definitive of every Del Rey album. With “Norman F**king Rockwell,” she has officially finished her leap from reference points to creating a vision definitive of a west coast lifestyle. To listen to this album captures the sensation of lying on the beach, carefree, enjoying one of those inexplicable love many dream of. Del Rey brings to life every last grain of sand underneath her bare feet, making the audience feel the tapestry of her music. The name of the album is apt, if just because of how it captures a time and place akin to 21st century Americana. One day this generation will grow old and look back on this album like their grandparents do Rockwell paintings. It’s the perfect complement.
With her previous album “Lust for Life,” there was a sense that Del Rey was finally coming out of her shell. Gone was the melodramatic artist who relied on self-pity to fuel cinematic songs. Suddenly she was singing about the joys of life, finding peace with the world as she made bold statements on war and feminism. She found a new vitality, and in the process redefined her style with guest collaborations that brought out her style in ways that elevated her material. For the first time, it felt like she truly cared about someone other than her own mythology.
With her latest, it becomes clear that one of the major reasons for her shift in attitude was embracing the beach lifestyle. With producers like Jack Antonoff in tow, she produces one of her breeziest albums to date. Following the titular song that serves as a manifesto for everything that follows, she begins to establish herself as a “Venice B***h.” She’s someone who you could imagine walking the pier down in Santa Monica, CA and finding something profound about the sunset. She feels lost in the thought that comes with a hot summer night spent with friends as she gets high and finds a bliss that comes with the territory. She has slowly revised herself as a patron saint of California, finding ways to romanticize beach houses and seaside restaurants with clever wordplay.
It could explain why this is also among her most accessible albums. Even as “Venice B***h” tops nine minutes with a surf-psychedelic breakdown, there is this sense that she’s finding meditation within her style, pushing things into an experimental mold that feels like wafting through the ocean on a boat. It helps explain recurring themes throughout her album, such as the desire to spend time doing nothing, finding solace in these moments. In her most optimistic moment, “Love song” finds her capturing a romance that feels pure and far more upbeat than anything she’s ever done. It feels like she could be stuck in this condition forever, as if creating her own Rockwell painting of sitting on a porch in beachwear without a care in the world. It’s staggering when compared to the real Rockwell, but they both serve the same purpose to their target audience.
It makes sense then that this album also features a boozy cover of Long Beach, CA band Sublime’s “Doin’ Time.” Whereas the original came across as a failed relationship, Del Rey finds a way to paint it more as a friendship in distress. It’s part of the tapestry that fits alongside songs like “The greatest,” where she recalls everything she misses about the Southern California attitude. She wants to get drunk with her “Bartender” and just enjoy the carefree life. In a world of busy bodies, Del Rey’s desire is to take things slow, and it shines through as the music creates some of her best borderline-pop hooks since “Born to Die.” Even if she’s still mellow, the music plays to her octaves as if they were their own current flowing in and out with happiness and sadness.
It also helps that the album ends with two songs that reflect her newfound optimism. “Happiness is a butterfly” and “hope is a dangerous thing for a woman to have – but I have it” capture a deeper sense of purpose. For as fraught as the world is and how much social commentary she’s secretly put in her music, she still enjoys living in this state, mentally and literally. She has found a way to be happy with her lot in life after being labeled as a depressing diva early on. Here she is embracing it not only by making the music more singular but also by choosing to find optimism in the world around her.
Then again, a fascinating side to the Rockwell comparison is the politics. Despite having images that popped with a life of innocence, many of the paintings were from a period known for trenchant warfare, where the need for American unity was desired. It may be why Del Rey chose Rockwell of all inspiration points, as among her happy moments are moments of despair. She worries about the crumbling of the world, alluding to how the world has let her down. Depression is something that Del Rey has covered extensively in her work, but this time it feels in relation to the world writ large. As she sits at the beach, she contemplates the horrors of the world, and why they can't get along. Without always addressing direct targets, her lackadaisical songs feel jabbed with timely references to the changing environment around her. It's one that is changing politically and socially, and Del Rey continues her dive to make her voice heard in the mix.
Few artists could claim to capture something as well as Lana Del Rey does the west coast in “Norman F**king Rockwell.” With its own state of mind, she has slowly become more and more open with how it’s inspired her to be a better person. While maybe her boozy beach music may eventually veer into self-parody, it’s still the evolution that her career has been building towards. She still has the wit and mystique that makes her other albums excellent but with more of a Sunkist touch this time. This is a record that feels like sitting on the beach, watching your friends run out to catch a wave. There’s good times and bad times, and she captures it all perfectly. With this album she has finally come into her own as an artist, managing to embrace and expand on the California lifestyle. It’s a beautiful little album from one of the 21st century’s most unique songstresses. Despite a great career full of stellar records, this feels like the start of something new and exciting.
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5
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