Lana Del Rey, Chemtrails Over the Country Club | Album Review 💿

Despite having a tall task of following up a career masterpiece, Lana Del Rey keeps the hot streak going on Chemtrails Over the Country Club.

How does one follow up the best album of one’s career? One thoughtfully penned, well executed song at a time, that’s how! 🏆 Grammy-nominated alternative/pop singer/songwriter 🎙 Lana Del Rey had the elephantine task to follow up the crowning achievement of her career, 💿 Norman Fucking Rockwell!.  If her seventh studio album, 💿 Chemtrails Over the Country Club had ended up being weaker, would anyone blame her? I’d personally say no because honestly, she’s been on a hot streak.  Guess what? It continues with 💿 Chemtrails Over the Country Club.  It doesn’t eclipse NFR! mind you, but it’s another elite LP that shows Del Rey at the top of her game.

“White Dress” 

From the start, it’s clear that Chemtrails Over the Country Club is set to be more stripped and subtle compared to her past albums.  ✅ 🎵 “White Dress” commences mysteriously, which isn’t far-fetched for Del Rey.  That said, vocally, she’s hypnotic, blessing us with her refined, breathy upper register.  It’s incredibly easy to lean on her every note given how magical the performance is, backed by rhythmic piano with otherwise restrained instrumentation in the mix. Besides the top-notch vocals, the songwriting is sweet too, particular it’s reminiscent, narrative nature.

“When I was a waitress wearing a white dress
Look how I do this, look how I got this
I was a waitress working the night shift
You were my man, felt like I got this.”

“I’m on the run with you, my sweet love / There’s nothing wrong contemplating God / Under the chemtrails over the country club.” ✅ 🎵 “Chemtrails Over the Country Club” is another highlight, clearly worth its four-and-a-half-minute runtime. From a songwriting perspective (Del Rey and 🎼 ✍ Jack Antonoff), the results are quite intriguing – poetically-penned with numerous allusions. The best moment arrives from the jump, with Lana singing in her signature vocal style on the chorus. “Chemtrails…” is certainly a vibe. The cool energy overall, as well as the vocal production is awesome.  Initially, accompanied only by piano, more instruments enter gradually, filling things out nicely. After singing initially in her lower register on the chorus, she ascends into her gorgeous, rich upper register, showing her vocal versality. Interestingly, the jam-packed “Chemtrails Over the Country Club” concludes with just a drum groove for an expanded period of time.

“Tulsa Jesus Freak”

Spirituality often plays a role in some form or fashion in Del Rey’s work.  That’s the case once more on ✅ 🎵 “Tulsa Jesus Freak,” where she opens with the line, “You should stay real close to Jesus.” Sure, that’s sound advice, but we all know that Christianity itself isn’t what Lana is likely getting at, even with J-E-S-U-S mentioned in the title.  Even with a number of words associated with religion, the ‘Jesus Freak’ seems to have some relationship with substance, which makes you wonder how he and Lana truly can manage to be “White-hot forever / And ever and ever, amen.”  “Tulsa Jesus Freak” is definitely thought provoking and continues to “white hot” start for Chemtrails Over the Country Club.

✅ 🎵 “Let Me Love You Like a Woman” arrived as the promo single for Chemtrails Over the Country Club back in 2020.  The record begins as a piano ballad with more instruments eventually added.  Even so, the record never erupts into anything over the top. As always, Del Rey delivers expressive vocals.  As far as the narrative of the songwriting, on the first verse, Lana is totally ready to leave LA. That said, she wants him to leave with her. On the chorus, she lays out potentially sweet romance, including the titular lyric and “Talk to me in poems and songs.” Once more, on the second verse, she shares her desire to leave, but asserts it’d be no fun without him.  She brings nostalgia on the bridge:

“We could get lost in the purple rain
Talk about the good ol’ days
We could get high on some pink champagne
Baby, let me count the ways.”

Additionally, sweetening the bridge is that upper register – some falsetto. The record concludes with the centerpiece, the chorus.

“Wild at Heart”

Lana Del Rey is no stranger to singing about California – understatement.  It’s been a staple of her music and honestly, we wouldn’t have it any other way! She sings about the Golden State once more on 🎵 “Wild at Heart,” including Sunset Boulevard (“To see your pretty pics on Sunset Boulevard”) and leaving “Calabasas, escaped all the ashes, ran into the dark.” Clearly, by exiting Cali, she feels liberated – “wild, wild, wild at heart.” As always, there are connections to previous songs and pop culture, which keeps things intriguing as always.  Also intriguing, of course, are her vocals, particularly as she packs some punch towards the end of the record.  She doesn’t miss a beat on follow up 🎵 “Dark but Just a Game.” Here, there are more chilling sounds – quite an aesthetic and vibe established by herself and Jack Antonoff.  As always, the vocals that lead the excellence, including colorful backing vocals appearing sporadically.

The beauty of Del Rey’s voice continues to be on full display on 🎵 “Not All Who Wander Are Lost.” More so than the preceding “Dark but Just a Game,” vocal layering plays a pivotal role in the overall sound.  It’s understandable given how stripped “Not All Who Wander Are Lost” is, with guitar serving as the main source of accompaniment.  The lovely vocal arrangement definitely fills out the production.  Of course, the songwriting continues to be sweet, namely repeated titular lyric.  Del Rey asserts “It’s just wanderlust” as opposed to, well, wonder-lost, I guess.

“Yosemite”

It’s truly impressive when songwriters are able to make connections between songs from the same album as well as songs from previous projects.  On the hypnotizing 🎵 “Yosemite,” Lana Del Rey once more references an iconic 🎙 Elton John song, lyric, and metaphor: “No more candle in the wind.” On this album in particular, the lyric reappears from “Tulsa Jesus Freak.” Even prior to the optimistic “no more candle in the wind” line, Lana thanks her lover for making her feel truly special.  Here, the relationship feels good, right, and quite mature.  

Of course, happiness and Lana Del Rey can only last so long, sigh. Following the optimism of “Yosemite,” she moves on to the gorgeous though ‘agonizing’ ✅🎵 “Breaking Up Slowly.”  Co-written by 🎼 ✍ Nikki Lane, Lane also duets with Del Rey with marvelous results. In fact, Lane gets first blood singing the chorus and first verse before Del Rey joins her on the following chorus. No worries as Del Rey gets her solo moment on the second verse: “George got arrested out on the lawn / We might be breakin’ up after this song.”

“Dance Til We Die” 

“I’m covering Joni and I’m dancin’ with Joan / Stevie is callin’ on the telephone.”  Ah, that’s the Lana Del Rey we totally heart on 🎵 “Dance Til We Die,” making numerous references to musical icons.  Of course, for the record, she does indeed end up covering 🎙 Joni Mitchell.  Besides referencing notable musicians, some other ear catching happenings include this western/ midwestern folky vibe, leaving California (again), and a cinematic reference to Clementine from 🎦 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, we assume (“Clementine’s no just a fruit / it’s my daughter’s chosen name”).  

Now to that cover! Lana del Rey is always good for a cover on many her albums.  She concludes Chemtrails Over the Country Club brilliantly with a Joni Mitchell classic, 🎵 “For Free.” Del Rey enlists 🎙 Zella Day and 🎙 Weyes Blood for the assist on a truly chilling interpretation.  The vocals are elite, the harmonies haunting, and the production absolutely stunning. The original – intact with clarinet solo, fitting – is magical.  Likewise, the Del Rey take is also quite special, and has a strong case for crowning achievement on a truly intriguing seventh album.  That’s saying something considering how many great originals grace Chemtrails.

Final Thoughts 💭 

Lana Del Rey is a beast.  Yes, she’s polarizing, as has been well noted, but she’s also incredibly talented.  As Chemtrails Over the Country Club proves, she just gets better and better with time.  NFR! remains her best album, one that is very hard to top, but Chemtrails Over the Country Club sits quite high in her illustrious discography.  Could Del Rey finally win a Grammy? Only time will tell, but Chemtrails will definitely be worth consideration.  

✅ Gems 💎: “White Dress,” “Chemtrails Over the Country Club,” “Tulsa Jesus Freak,” “Let Me Love You Like a Woman,” “Breaking Up Slowly” & “For Free”

🎙 Lana Del Rey • 💿 Chemtrails Over the Country Club • 🏷 Interscope • 🗓 3.19.21

[📷: Interscope]