Lana Del Rey’s single A&W was released ahead of her highly anticipated album Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd on Valentine’s Day. The seven minute track, infused with elements of trap and folk, perfectly encapsulates Lana Del Rey’s signature style and sound. From her beginnings as a Tumblr icon during her Born To Die and Ultraviolence eras to her current status as a respected alternative powerhouse, Lana Del Rey has developed and refined her aesthetic while still remaining true to her original vision.
While Lana Del Rey has experimented with her sound and varied her style throughout her career, some themes in her work remain constant—Hollywood glamor, drugs, melancholy, and codependent relationships. On her debut album Born To Die, Lana Del Rey introduces her listeners to her fantasy world, and on her fourth album, Honeymoon, she expands on her view on idealized love established in earlier works. The iconic breakout hit “Summertime Sadness” from her debut album details the ephemeral beauty of a summer fling, and singles “National Anthem” and “Blue Jeans” reveal Lana Del Rey’s obsession with the 50s and 60s. She mentions American actress Marilyn Monroe, famous during the 50s, on “National Anthem” and again on “Body Electric,” a track from Paradise released the same year after Born To Die. Additionally, she smoothly croons “It was like James Dean / For sure” on “Blue Jeans,” referencing her adoration of yet another 50s celebrity. Her larger than life persona, created to emulate mid-20th century Hollywood starlets, characterizes her early style and bleeds into her music. With a blended pop-esque and trip hop sound that swells and recedes under her vocals, her music conveys the same dazzling American charm as her lyrics.
Lana Del Rey’s starry-eyed naivete is subdued with her portrayal of Californian love on Honeymoon. With a newfound lyrical maturity, she explores romance through a more retro lens. Single “High By The Beach” simulates the experience of being stoned through distortion and haze, but the distortion also suggests something dark about her relationships—her lovers are like drugs, and she’s addicted to them. In her picturesque Californian daydream, full of sunshine and undying passion, Lana Del Rey once encounters the violence she left behind during her third album’s era; on the soft and stripped down single “Honeymoon,” Lana Del Rey slowly sings “We both know the history of violence that surrounds you / But I’m not scared, there’s nothing to lose now that I’ve found you.” There’s something haunting about her love and her music—some songs feel more like lamentations than romantic summer anthems. However, that devastating quality that underlines her work reveals her talent as a songwriter. Her multifaceted style is both sweet and sad, nostalgic for a historic period she connects with but never got to experience.
On Lana Del Rey’s guitar-driven third album Ultraviolence, she explores a darker and more relaxed side of the American consciousness. Her lyrics are more literary, melancholic, and graphic than on Born To Die and Paradise, and have a cinematic quality to them. On the brooding and languid “Shades of Cool,” Lana Del Rey expresses the pain she experiences trying to fix her lover, and on “Sad Girl,” continues a trend of referencing drug use with the words “Creeping around while he gets high / It might not be something you would do, but.” Her aesthetic reflects a maturity not present in her previous works—instead of pretending that her relationships are perfect, she expresses how she’s suffered because of her lovers. On her fifth album Lust for Life, however, Lana Del Rey yearns for more than love—she desires the innocence and simplicity that comes with youth. She ‘lusts’ for a life without the toxic relationships and trauma she’s accumulated over the years. But still, her addiction remains.
Lana Del Rey deviates from her Hollywood golden age aesthetic during her Ultraviolence era; her new muted sense of style, described as soft grunge, was popular with teenage girls during the 2010s, and along with singers such as Lorde, issued in a wave of sad girl chic on social media. Notably, on Tumblr, black and white gifs from Lana Del Rey’s music videos circulated on the platform, accompanied with sad quotes from writers such as Sylvia Plath and Lolita author Vladimir Nabokov. However, with the subsequent releases of Honeymoon and Lust For Life, Lana Del Rey’s aesthetic returns to its baseline and becomes fully realized. Vivid lyrics including “White lines and black beaches” on the trap-inspired “Summer Bummer” and “But Hollywood legends / Will never grow old” on “Terrence Loves You” reinforce the original themes of her work without coming across as trite.
Chemtrails Over The Country Club and Blue Banisters, Lana Del Rey’s seventh and eighth albums respectively, are more introspective in nature. Following the release of her poetry book, Violets Bent Backwards over the Grass, Lana Del Rey worked with producer Jack Antonoff to record her seventh album. In it, she no longer romanticizes the west coast and instead celebrates the general suburban American spirit, white picket fences and all. On “Tulsa Jesus Freak,” Lana Del Rey references Arkansas in place of California, and on “Let Me Love You Like A Woman,” almost whispers “I only mention it cause I’m ready to leave L.A.” as if she’s making a confession. In a sense she has traded her romantic daydreams from Honeymoon for reality without shedding the haunting quality that characterizes her work. She also abandons the ornate music of Born To Die and the baroque pop of Paradise for a folk-inspired style. Blue Banisters reflects the same homely Americana as its predecessor. The bells and whistles are notably absent, and Lana Del Rey’s insightful maturity augments her typical melancholia. The poetry of Normal f*cking Rockwell!, Lana Del Rey’s sixth album, is presented in a more developed form with lyrics such as “All roads that lead to you as integral to me as arteries / That pump the blood that flows straight to the heart of me,” and her trap influences from Lust For Life reappear on “Interlude - The Trio.” Blue Banisters is poignant, lucid, and honest, and Lana Del Rey successfully demonstrates her versatility by fusing her old vintage style with her new understated sound.
Norman f*cking Rockwell!, is a turning point in Lana Del Rey’s musical career—instead of defining herself through her lovers, she becomes the protagonist of her own story. She no longer views the world through rose tinted glasses and sees her partners for who they are, reflecting the realism of American illustrator Norman Rockwell. Her newfound independence and clear-sightedness are refreshing; Lana Del Rey laments that although “hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have,” she has the strength to reclaim her past by powerfully stating “but I have it.” She also positions herself as an equal in her relationships on “Mariners Apartment Complex.” By changing her style from glamorously American to casually American with longer and more reflective songs, she puts herself in the spotlight and deemphasizes the importance of relationships with men in her life.
Lana Del Rey has continuously evolved her sound by combining Americana with trap, folk, pop, and other genres, and has evolved her once glamorous 50s style into something that’s unique and unequivocally hers. The longevity of her career indicates the strength of her artistry and the allure of the dream she created, and while her style and sound have changed, she remains committed to crafting songs with the power to move even the most stoic listener.
