Lana Del Rey, known for her alternative pop music, is going country. On January 31 at the Billboard and NMPA Songwriter Award, Del Rey took to the stage to praise music producer Jack Antonoff, and in doing so, announced her new album Lasso is set to be released in September.
To quote Lana, “If you can’t already tell by our award winners and our performers, the music business is going country. We’re going country. It’s happening. That’s why Jack has followed me to Muscle Shoals, Nashville, Mississippi, over the last four years.”
Lasso will be Del Rey’s 10th studio LP and will serve as a followup to her most recent album Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd which was released last March. The album was nominated for 5 Grammys, including Best Alternative Music Album.
Country is not something commonly associated with Lana Del Rey, who is known for her deep, melodic, and alternative lyrics and music. However, over the past year, she has been experimenting with country performances. Last September, she went to Nashville and featured her cover of Stand By Your Man by Tammy Wynette (1969) at Robert’s Western World. She has also performed renditions of Elvis’ Unchained Melancholy (1977) and Take Me Home, Country Roads (1971) by John Denver. She’s also been teasing her country through her social media by posting a snippet of Henry, Come On, one of her unreleased songs, on Instagram and tagging Luke Laird, who is a well known country music producer.
Even though Lana has no previous country releases, she does have a country-inspired album. Chemtrails over the Country Club, her 6th album released in 2021, has certain country influences and qualities mixed into the pop base. Additionally, Lana has always had themes of Americana within her music, using American flag visuals even in her first album. As her sound has evolved, she’s looked more towards folk-sounds and production, such as with her song “Dance till we die.”
Zoe Bradford, a senior at Green Level and a Lana super-fan, attended Del Rey’s most recent concert in Charlotte, NC. She claims, “It totally makes sense for her to transition to a full country album, as she has been building up to it her entire career.”
Jack Antonoff, known for his work with Taylor Swift and Lorde, began working with Del Rey in 2018 and has helped with the release of her last 4 albums. Lana has praised Antonoff by claiming his “instincts are unique. And apparently award winning.” Jack Antonoff has won 4 Grammys, and has been nominated at the upcoming Grammys for his work on Taylor Swift’s Midnights and Del Rey’s Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd.
According to Del Rey, this album has been in the works for 4 years now. Even though Lana has no outright country releases, she’s clearly been interested in the genre for a while now, and has performed many country covers as well as incorporated country influences into previous albums. Knowing Lana, she will likely put her own dark and alternative spin into the world of the country, and fans are eager to hear it.
