The court of public opinion is a relentlessly cruel place and few artists working today that haven't been accused or convicted of a heinous crime have experienced the full extent of that harshness more than Lana Del Rey. Before her debut LP Born to Die dropped in January 2012, she had already been labeled a phony product of the industry after some internet detectives discovered that she recorded an album under the name Lizzy Grant years earlier that sounded nothing like the melancholic pop she was making under the Lana Del Rey moniker and became an overnight meme sensation following a sloppy Saturday Night Live performance where her pitch was all over the place.
Post-Born to Die, the narrative around Del Rey slowly began to change. Despite not changing the dreary tone or obsession with 50's/60's American pop culture that earned her so much hate at the start of her career, the criticisms surrounding her overall aesthetic and vocal capabilities have decreased with each record she's released. Norman Fucking Rockwell! is the final step in a seven-and-a-half year reclamation project where Del Rey asserts her dominance over the alternative corner of the pop landscape and finally ascends to the pioneer status that she's long been denied.
Norman Fucking Rockwell! standouts in Del Rey discography for one simple reason: an abundance of swagger. The self-proclaimed sad girl's music may still have a bleak backdrop, but this record has an overwhelming bravado running through it that makes most hip-hop records seem modest. She jumps between singing behind hazy guitars that harken back to the days of The Doors ("California", "The Greatest") to minimalist piano ("Norman Fucking Rockwell", "Mariners Apartment Complex") to booming strings with her signature trip hop undertones ("How I Disappear", "Fuck It, I Love You" ) with a sense of complete fearlessness, tackling every twist and turn this bold, psychedelic journey takes with stunning vibrancy and prowess. As consistently impressive as her discography has been, it's still stunning to see how much more comfortable she is as both a singer and songwriter now compared to the early days.
Aiding the increased potency and confidence Del Rey displays here is the sensational production of Jack Antonoff. Like Del Rey, Antonoff has faced heavy scrutiny over the years for his perceived disingenuous image and reliance on bouncy piano progressions to drive his songs. He uses Norman Fucking Rockwell! as a vast wonderland to say "fuck you" to his detractors by experimenting with an array of different sounds that are unlike anything he's ever done on any of his own projects or high-profile collaborations with the likes of Taylor Swift and Lorde.
While piano is still his preferred tool for crafting melodies, Antonoff fills the instrumentation here with plenty of subtle, stunning flourishes. Simple, beautiful keys build into explosive bridges filled with triumphant synths. Distorted guitar lines emerge practically out of thin air. Lengthy ambient outros provide powerful, dream-like exclamation points to the moody anthems that preceded them. These unexpected, slowly-unfolding detours that occur on just about every track here allow Del Rey to explore every octave of her expansive vocal range while also allowing her sprawling vision of a longtime cynic finally flirting with optimism even as the whole world burns around her to come to life with titanic force. Creating an immersive emotional atmosphere has always been the primary appeal of Del Rey's music and under Antonoff's watch, these soundscapes have never been more visceral, hypnotic or exhilarating.
I don't give a shit if anyone writes this off as a rash overreaction since it's only been four weeks since it was released, I'm ready to declare that Norman Fucking Rockwell! is a generation-defining masterpiece. Underneath its dense, endlessly rewarding musical surface, it's really a poetic representation of what it means to be alive in 2019. The world may be full of heartbreak, division and general unease, but entertaining the possibility that better days are on the horizon if you can muster up the strength to weather the storm is all the fuel you need to make tomorrow worth living for. This is a message that only Del Rey could deliver with such grace, clarity and poignancy, and ultimately why Norman Fucking Rockwell! should go down as the most impressive accomplishment of her quietly influential career thus far.
Post-Born to Die, the narrative around Del Rey slowly began to change. Despite not changing the dreary tone or obsession with 50's/60's American pop culture that earned her so much hate at the start of her career, the criticisms surrounding her overall aesthetic and vocal capabilities have decreased with each record she's released. Norman Fucking Rockwell! is the final step in a seven-and-a-half year reclamation project where Del Rey asserts her dominance over the alternative corner of the pop landscape and finally ascends to the pioneer status that she's long been denied.
Norman Fucking Rockwell! standouts in Del Rey discography for one simple reason: an abundance of swagger. The self-proclaimed sad girl's music may still have a bleak backdrop, but this record has an overwhelming bravado running through it that makes most hip-hop records seem modest. She jumps between singing behind hazy guitars that harken back to the days of The Doors ("California", "The Greatest") to minimalist piano ("Norman Fucking Rockwell", "Mariners Apartment Complex") to booming strings with her signature trip hop undertones ("How I Disappear", "Fuck It, I Love You" ) with a sense of complete fearlessness, tackling every twist and turn this bold, psychedelic journey takes with stunning vibrancy and prowess. As consistently impressive as her discography has been, it's still stunning to see how much more comfortable she is as both a singer and songwriter now compared to the early days.
Aiding the increased potency and confidence Del Rey displays here is the sensational production of Jack Antonoff. Like Del Rey, Antonoff has faced heavy scrutiny over the years for his perceived disingenuous image and reliance on bouncy piano progressions to drive his songs. He uses Norman Fucking Rockwell! as a vast wonderland to say "fuck you" to his detractors by experimenting with an array of different sounds that are unlike anything he's ever done on any of his own projects or high-profile collaborations with the likes of Taylor Swift and Lorde.
While piano is still his preferred tool for crafting melodies, Antonoff fills the instrumentation here with plenty of subtle, stunning flourishes. Simple, beautiful keys build into explosive bridges filled with triumphant synths. Distorted guitar lines emerge practically out of thin air. Lengthy ambient outros provide powerful, dream-like exclamation points to the moody anthems that preceded them. These unexpected, slowly-unfolding detours that occur on just about every track here allow Del Rey to explore every octave of her expansive vocal range while also allowing her sprawling vision of a longtime cynic finally flirting with optimism even as the whole world burns around her to come to life with titanic force. Creating an immersive emotional atmosphere has always been the primary appeal of Del Rey's music and under Antonoff's watch, these soundscapes have never been more visceral, hypnotic or exhilarating.
I don't give a shit if anyone writes this off as a rash overreaction since it's only been four weeks since it was released, I'm ready to declare that Norman Fucking Rockwell! is a generation-defining masterpiece. Underneath its dense, endlessly rewarding musical surface, it's really a poetic representation of what it means to be alive in 2019. The world may be full of heartbreak, division and general unease, but entertaining the possibility that better days are on the horizon if you can muster up the strength to weather the storm is all the fuel you need to make tomorrow worth living for. This is a message that only Del Rey could deliver with such grace, clarity and poignancy, and ultimately why Norman Fucking Rockwell! should go down as the most impressive accomplishment of her quietly influential career thus far.
Grade: A+
Standout Tracks
1.California
2.Cinnamon Girl
3.Fuck It, I Love You
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