Not for the first time on this album, Del Rey seems to be wondering whether she was “better off” before she became famous.Lana gets a little better at being Lana every year. It’s a song on which Mitchell ponders the difference between herself - a star performing her songs “for fortunes” and “velvet curtain calls” - and a humble street musician she sees playing “real good” for no money at all. It’s easy to see how this highlight from the Ladies Of The Canyon album might resonate with Del Rey. And it ends with a Joni Mitchell coverĪfter singing on the penultimate track Dance Till We Die that she’s “coverin’ Joni”, Del Rey does just that, recruiting indie singers Weyes Blood and Zella Day for a heartfelt rendition of Joni Mitchell’s 1970 track For Free. Tulsa Jesus Freak and Yosemite both borrow Elton John’s Candle in the Wind imagery, while Del Rey winks at Prince on Let Me Love You Like a Woman, when she sings, “We could get lost in the purple rain.” Later, country singer Nikki Lane collaborates on the utterly lovely Breaking Up Slowly, and delivers this crisp couplet: “I don’t wanna live a life of regret / I don’t wanna end up like Tammy Wynette.” 7. The lyrics are sprinkled with nostalgic pop-culture references This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from. Breaking Up Slowly is a country-flecked ballad, Dance Till We Die introduces some jazzy horns and Wild At Heart has stunning overdubbed vocals that will make the hairs on your arms stand up. Like every album since 2014's Ultraviolence, Chemtrails Over The Country Club is very much a mood piece, but this doesn’t mean it lacks light and shade. It finds new spins on Del Rey’s usual, beautifully languid tempoīy now, her fans know not to expect uptempo cuts - for that, you'll need to revisit Cedric Gervais's club-ready 2013 remixes of Summertime Sadness and Young & Beautiful. When she sings “the cameras have flashes, they cause the car crashes”, it’s hard not to picture the late Princess Diana, an icon whom Del Rey namechecked on her spoken-word piece Patent Leather Do-Over. She definitely has fame on her mindĭel Rey lets us know exactly what she thinks of fame on Dark But Just a Game when she sings, “it’s dark, but just a game - so play it like a symphony.” Wild at Heart - a song that shares its title with a 1990 David Lynch film, a very Del Rey touch - really leans into the shade. The song’s final line is especially revealing and introduces one of Chemtrails Over The Country Club’s recurring themes: when Del Rey sings, “it kinda makes me feel like maybe I was better off”, she seems to be hinting that fame hasn't been too fulfilling for her. As she namechecks rock bands Kings of Leon and The White Stripes - and something called the ‘Men in Music Business Conference’ - Del Rey sets an intimate and wistful mood that she maintains for the next 45 minutes over the course of the album. Here, she looks back on her carefree pre-fame days as a waitress who felt ‘seen’ by her man. Del Rey is continuing to build her own mythĪ hardcore Del Rey fan could probably write a thesis just on the opening track White Dress.