Chemtrails over the Country Club | ||||
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Released | March 19, 2021 | |||
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Length | 45:28 | |||
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Singles from Chemtrails over the Country Club | ||||
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Chemtrails over the Country Club is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. It was released on March 19, 2021, by Interscope and Polydor Records. Del Rey enlisted producer Jack Antonoff as her co-producer for the majority of the album, after working with him on her previous studio album, Norman Fucking Rockwell! (2019), while previous collaborator Rick Nowels produced one of the album's tracks. The album features collaborations with Nikki Lane, Weyes Blood, and Zella Day.
Chemtrails over the Country Club is described as a folk, country folk, and Americana record. According to Del Rey, the album is about her friends and family. Other themes featured on the album are themes of escapism, love, heartbreak, and nostalgia, while encompassing her usual references to Americana, alongside emotions of disillusionment.
Chemtrails over the Country Club received widespread acclaim from music critics, with many comparing its sound to its predecessor. The album debuted at number one in eight countries, including the United Kingdom, becoming Del Rey's fifth number one album in the country, and reached the top five in twenty countries, including the United States, where it peaked at number two on the Billboard 200, becoming Del Rey's sixth consecutive top five album in the country.
Lana Del Rey first announced the album in an interview with Time on August 30, 2019, the release of her sixth studio album, Norman Fucking Rockwell! . [1] [2] Originally titled White Hot Forever, it was slated for a 2020 release, with Del Rey saying that the album would be released "sometime within the next 12 or 13 months". [3] On May 25, 2020, the album's final title was revealed to be Chemtrails over the Country Club, scheduled for a September 5, 2020, release. [4] After the release of her debut book, Violet Bent Backwards over the Grass in 2020, Del Rey held a book signing, where she revealed that the album had been postponed due to vinyl record production delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. [5] Additionally, she revealed the title of the song "Dealer", revealing that she was uncertain about including it on the album. [6] [7] "Dealer" would not be included on Chemtrails over the Country Club, but eventually appeared on its follow-up Blue Banisters (2021). [8]
On August 7, 2020, Del Rey posted a video on Instagram featuring a snippet of the track "Tulsa Jesus Freak", which would later be included on the album. [9] [10] [11] On September 1, Del Rey posted a video on Instagram of herself on the set of the music video for the album's title track, and announced that the album's lead single would be the song "Let Me Love You like a Woman", further stating the album would be released "soon" after. [12]
Chemtrails over the Country Club is described as a folk, country folk, and Americana record. [13] [14] [15] The majority of the album was co-produced by Del Rey, alongside Jack Antonoff who is also the sole producer of the album's lead single, "Let Me Love You like a Woman". [16] [17] The song "Yosemite", which was recorded during the sessions for Del Rey's fifth studio album, Lust For Life (2017), held between 2015 and 2016. [18]
Del Rey stated "so much of the album" pertains to her "stunning girlfriends" and "beautiful siblings". [19] [20] She further added that, "In 2021, [Chemtrails over the Country Club] opens a sunnier chapter in [Del Rey's] controversial roman-à-clef, and folk legend Joan Baez advocates her acceptance in the pantheon", adding that the album "appears to reveal a more vulnerable Del Rey" who is "lighter on the LA menace" and "more innocently emotional" than in her previous work. [21] [22]
The song "Breaking Up Slowly" features a guest appearance by American singer Nikki Lane, who also co-wrote the song with Del Rey. The album's closes with a cover of Joni Mitchell's "For Free" from her album Ladies of the Canyon (1970). [21]
On January 10, 2021, a day prior to the release of its title track, Del Rey revealed the album cover and track list of Chemtrails over the Country Club on Twitter and Instagram. [8] [23] The cover shows Del Rey with a number of her female friends (who also appear in the title track's music video). [24] [25]
On October 16, 2020, "Let Me Love You like a Woman" was released alongside its music video as the album's lead single. [26] Del Rey performed the song for the first time on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on December 14, 2020. [27] The performance, which was pre-recorded, was her first televised performance in nine years, since her infamous appearance on Saturday Night Live in 2012. [28] She performed the song again, as well as a rendition of "Silent Night" on at Jack Antonoff's Ally Coalition Talent Show on December 21. [29] [30] [31] The following day, she posted a teaser video for the album's title track on her social media platforms, announcing its release as the second single on January 11, 2021, alongside the album's pre-order. [32] [33] Chemtrails over the Country Club was released worldwide on March 19, 2021. [34] [35] Two more singles were released from the album. The songs "White Dress" and "Tulsa Jesus Freak" were released as the album's third and fourth singles on March 19, 2021, and March 26, 2021, respectively. [36] [37] [38] [39]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 7.8/10 [40] |
Metacritic | 81/100 [41] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [14] |
The A.V. Club | C+ [42] |
Consequence | B+ [43] |
The Daily Telegraph | [44] |
Entertainment Weekly | B [45] |
The Guardian | [46] |
The Independent | [47] |
NME | [48] |
Pitchfork | 7.5/10 [49] |
Rolling Stone | [50] |
Chemtrails over the Country Club was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received a weighted average score of 81, based on 28 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". [41] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 7.8 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus. [40]
AllMusic's Fred Thomas stated Del Rey "shakes off the cocoon of her slick pop days completely" in Chemtrails over the Country Club, carrying on the nuanced songwriting of Norman Fucking Rockwell! and ensuing in her "most atmospheric" album to-date. [14] Will Hodgkinson of The Times called the album both "beautifully executed" and "thoughtfully realised". [51] Los Angeles Times critic Mikael Wood found Del Rey's singing reaching a "new peak" in Chemtrails; he pinpointed how her vocals move "between her airy head voice and her sultry chest voice". [52] Rhian Daly of NME called the album "a sublime statement" that mediates on fame and romance, having the singer "at the peak of her game". [48] Reviewing for The Independent , Helen Brown named Del Rey "a great storyteller", who consistently details "the who, what, where and when". Brown wrote that the album tones down the "lush orchestration" of its predecessor, opting for more acoustic guitar-picking, supported by "scuffs of scuzzy electric guitar and trip-hoppy hotel lobby organ". [47]
Liam Inscoe-Jones of The Line of Best Fit complimented the album's "gorgeous" instrumentation and Del Rey's story-based songwriting. [53] Praising the album's writing, The Observer critic Kitty Empire described it as "a record chockful of beauty and thoughtful autobiography that only a more experienced, more assured songwriter could have made". [54] Branding it "an enchanting listen" and a "bewitching project", Clash 's Robin Murray lauded the album's minimal instrumentation and the world-building of its lyrics. [55] John Amen of PopMatters wrote, "Chemtrails makes use of a more minimal and nuanced palette than earlier albums, Del Rey distancing herself, throughout the set and to varying degrees, from her longstanding persona and familiar stylistics. In this way, she avoids collapsing into formulas or self-caricature, continuing to explore new aesthetic possibilities." [56]
In mixed reviews, Tim Sentz, writing for Beats Per Minute , stated Chemtrails is nowhere near as sonically versatile as its predecessor and is "a coffeehouse-appropriate album that contains almost none of what made her last album transcend". [57] Spin critic Bobby Olivier favored the "several gorgeous arrangements" of the album but felt the music is less memorable than the rest of her catalogue. He found the country and folk inspired sound "sometimes striking", but the lyrics were "uninspired" at moments. [58] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian thought the album centers heavily on Del Rey's recurrent themes of "nostalgia, troubled fame and ne'er-do-well lovers", but appreciated the melodies of its tracks. [46] The A.V. Club 's Tatiana Tenreyro dubbed Chemtrails a sonically and lyrically inferior record to Norman Fucking Rockwell!, commenting that most of its tracks "don't stand out" and "blend together in their delicateness". [42] Johnny of the Well, reviewing for Sputnikmusic , criticized the album's "clumsy writing, bland instrumentation, vacuous sentimentalism and hamfisted stylisation"; nevertheless, he picked "Tulsa Jesus Freak" as a highlight. [59]
Critic/Publication | List | Rank | Ref. |
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BrooklynVegan | BrooklynVegan's Top 50 Albums of 2021 | 27 | |
The Daily Telegraph | The 10 Best Albums of 2021 | 2 | |
The Fader | The 50 Best Albums of 2021 | 19 | |
The Guardian | The 50 Best Albums of 2021 | 40 | |
The Independent | The 40 Best Albums of 2021 | 17 | |
Los Angeles Times | The 10 Best Albums of 2021 | 5 | |
The New York Times | Jon Caramanica's Best Albums of 2021 | 7 | |
PopMatters | The 75 Best Albums of 2021 | 34 | |
Slant Magazine | The 50 Best Albums of 2021 | 4 | |
The Washington Post | Best Music of 2021 | 7 |
Chemtrails over the Country Club debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, earning 75,000 album-equivalent units, (including 58,000 copies in pure album sales) in its first week, according to MRC Data, [70] becoming Del Rey's seventh US top 10 debut on the chart. [70] The album became her third chart-topper on the US Top Album Sales list, scoring the fourth-largest sales week for a vinyl album since MRC Data began tracking sales in 1991, with nearly 32,000 copies sold. [71] In addition, the album accumulated a total of 21.19 million on-demand streams from the album's songs. [70]
In the United Kingdom, Chemtrails over the Country Club debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, selling 40,000 copies in its first week and outselling the rest of the top 10 combined, [72] [73] becoming Del Rey's fifth UK number-one album. [73] The album became the fastest-selling vinyl of the century for a female act in the UK, with 16,000 vinyl copies sold. [73] In its first three days in the United Kingdom, the album sold 30,000 physical copies. [74]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "White Dress" |
| 5:33 | |
2. | "Chemtrails over the Country Club" |
|
| 4:31 |
3. | "Tulsa Jesus Freak" |
|
| 3:35 |
4. | "Let Me Love You like a Woman" |
| Antonoff | 3:21 |
5. | "Wild at Heart" |
|
| 4:06 |
6. | "Dark but Just a Game" |
|
| 3:55 |
7. | "Not All Who Wander Are Lost" |
|
| 4:07 |
8. | "Yosemite" |
| Nowels | 5:04 |
9. | "Breaking Up Slowly" (featuring Nikki Lane) |
|
| 2:57 |
10. | "Dance Till We Die" |
|
| 4:03 |
11. | "For Free" (featuring Zella Day and Weyes Blood) | Joni Mitchell |
| 4:11 |
Total length: | 45:28 |
Credits adapted from official liner notes. [75]
Musicians
| Producers and engineers
|
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
France (SNEP) [114] | Gold | 50,000‡ |
Poland (ZPAV) [115] | Platinum | 20,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [116] | Gold | 100,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer and songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, with frequent references to pop culture and 1950s–1970s Americana. Her vintage Hollywood glamour aesthetic is showcased in her music videos. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an MTV Video Music Award, three MTV Europe Music Awards, two Brit Awards, two Billboard Women in Music awards and a Satellite Award, in addition to nominations for eleven Grammy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Variety honored her at their Hitmakers Awards for being "one of the most influential singer-songwriters of the 21st century". In 2023, Rolling Stone placed Del Rey on their list of the "200 Greatest Singers of All Time", while their sister publication Rolling Stone UK named her as "The Greatest American Songwriter of the 21st century".
"Video Games" is the debut single by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. The song was produced by Robopop, while the lyrics were written by Del Rey and Justin Parker. It was first released to the Internet on May 5, 2011, and was later released on her extended play, Lana Del Rey. The song was re-released as the lead single from her second studio album, Born to Die, on October 7, 2011, through Interscope Records. "Video Games" is a baroque pop, dream pop, and downtempo ballad.
Born to Die is the second and debut major-label studio album by American singer-songwriter and record producer Lana Del Rey. It was released on January 27, 2012, through Interscope Records and Polydor Records. A reissue of the album, subtitled The Paradise Edition, was released on November 9, 2012. The new material from the reissue was also made available on a separate EP titled Paradise.
American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey has released nine studio albums, three extended plays, 41 singles, 18 promotional singles, and one box set. She also has one leaked demo album, which was not released officially. According to Universal Music Group (UMG), Del Rey has sold over 41 million albums worldwide and has garnered over 58 billion streams worldwide. In the United States, Del Rey has sold over 48 million certified singles according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Billboard ranked her as the 37th Top Rock Artist of the 2010s. Del Rey has also sold 7.1 million singles units, and 4 million albums in United Kingdom.
"Summertime Sadness" is a song by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey from her second studio album, Born to Die (2012). The pop ballad was released on June 22, 2012, by Interscope Records as the fourth single of the album. In the spring of 2013, "Summertime Sadness" reached number one in Poland, Ukraine and Armenia. Charting across Europe, the single reached the top 10 in Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. Trap and house remixes of "Summertime Sadness" helped Del Rey break into the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart. That chart is where Del Rey's song became a modest hit and marked her first foray into the chart. On the accompanied Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart, the single gave Del Rey her first US number-one single in August 2013. In September 2021, the song was ranked number 456 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Jack Michael Antonoff is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Antonoff is the lead vocalist of rock band Bleachers. He was previously the guitarist and drummer for the pop rock band Fun and the lead vocalist for the indie rock band Steel Train. Aside from his work with the three groups, Antonoff has been prolific in songwriting and production for various music industry acts, including Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, P!nk, Sara Bareilles, the 1975, Lorde, St. Vincent, Florence and the Machine, Lana Del Rey, Sabrina Carpenter, Gracie Abrams, Fifth Harmony, Sia, Kevin Abstract, Carly Rae Jepsen, the Chicks, Tegan and Sara, and Clairo. Antonoff is credited with impacting the sound of popular music throughout the 2010s and 2020s.
Ultraviolence is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey, released on June 13, 2014, by Polydor and Interscope Records. Originally dismissing the possibility of releasing another record after her major-label debut Born to Die (2012), Del Rey began planning its follow-up in 2013. Production continued into 2014, at which time she heavily collaborated with Dan Auerbach to revamp what she initially considered to be the completed record. The album saw additional contributions from producers such as Paul Epworth, Greg Kurstin, Daniel Heath, and Rick Nowels, and features a more guitar-based sound than Del Rey's previous releases.
Bleachers is an American rock band from New Jersey. Formed in 2013 by singer and multi-instrumentalist, 11-time Grammy winning producer and songwriter, Jack Antonoff. Antonoff was the only permanent member of the group until 2023, when longtime touring musicians Mikey Freedom Hart, Sean Hutchinson, Evan Smith, Michael Riddleberger, and Zem Audu became official members.
Honeymoon is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter, and record producer Lana Del Rey. It was released on September 18, 2015, by Interscope and Polydor Records. Produced by Del Rey alongside longtime collaborators Rick Nowels and Kieron Menzies, Honeymoon marked a departure from the more guitar-driven instrumentation of Del Rey's previous effort Ultraviolence (2014) and a return to the baroque pop of Born to Die (2012) and Paradise (2012). Lyrically, the album touches on themes of tortured romance, resentment, lust, escapism and violence.
Lust for Life is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter, and record producer Lana Del Rey, released on July 21, 2017, through Polydor and Interscope Records worldwide and Urban Records in Germany. Marking a return to the "hip-hop inspired" sound of her major-label debut, Lust for Life features production from past collaborators Rick Nowels, Kieron Menzies and Emile Haynie, while also working for the first time with producers Boi-1da, Max Martin, Benny Blanco and Metro Boomin. It also features guest appearances from The Weeknd, ASAP Rocky, Stevie Nicks, Sean Lennon, and Playboi Carti. The album and its title were announced on March 29, 2017, through a trailer on Del Rey's official Vevo channel on YouTube.
Norman Fucking Rockwell! is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey, released on August 30, 2019, by Interscope and Polydor Records. The album was primarily produced by Del Rey and Jack Antonoff, with additional contributions from Zach Dawes, Andrew Watt, and longtime Del Rey collaborator Rick Nowels. Musically, Norman Fucking Rockwell! features a soft rock sound consisting of psych-rock songs and piano ballads and features references to various classic rock artists. The title of the album is a reference to painter and illustrator Norman Rockwell.
"Mariners Apartment Complex" is a song by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey from her sixth studio album Norman Fucking Rockwell! (2019). She wrote the song after a late night walk with her then partner, while they were reaching an "apartment complex". Produced by Del Rey and co-writer Jack Antonoff, it combines country, psychedelic folk, and soft rock over a balladic production. Lyrically, the narrator assures her lover of constant support and guidance in their beautiful yet problematic relationship. The song was released as the lead single from the album on September 12, 2018, by Polydor and Interscope Records.
"Hope Is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman Like Me to Have – but I Have It" is a song by American singer Lana Del Rey. The track was released as the third single on January 9, 2019, through Polydor Records, to promote her sixth studio album Norman Fucking Rockwell!. It follows the singles "Mariners Apartment Complex" and "Venice Bitch".
Violet Bent Backwards over the Grass is the debut book by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. A poetry collection featuring over 19 original poems, 10 haikus and photography, including "13 longer poems" and several short pieces, the collection is Del Rey's first published work and was released by Simon & Schuster on September 29, 2020.
"Let Me Love You like a Woman" is a song by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. It was released on October 16, 2020, by Interscope Records and Polydor Records as the lead single from Del Rey's seventh studio album, Chemtrails over the Country Club. The song was recorded at both Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles and Electric Lady Studios in New York City and was written by Del Rey and frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff, who produced the song.
"White Dress" is a song by American singer and songwriter Lana Del Rey from her seventh studio album, Chemtrails over the Country Club
"Chemtrails over the Country Club" is a song by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. It was released on January 11, 2021, by Interscope Records and Polydor Records as the title track and second single from her seventh studio album of the same name. The song was written and produced by Del Rey and frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff.
Blue Banisters is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. It was released on October 22, 2021, by Interscope and Polydor Records, seven months after her previous record, Chemtrails over the Country Club. The album was produced by Del Rey, Zachary Dawes, Loren Humphrey, Mike Dean, Barrie-James O'Neill, Rick Nowels, and several others.
"Snow on the Beach" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her tenth studio album, Midnights (2022). It features background vocals from the American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. The two wrote the track with Jack Antonoff, who also produced the song with Swift. "Snow on the Beach" is a love song about two people falling in love with each other simultaneously. It includes a midtempo dream pop production containing synths, plucked violin, and a reverbed bass.
Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. Released on March 24, 2023, by Interscope and Polydor Records, the album features production by Del Rey, Mike Hermosa, Jack Antonoff, Drew Erickson, Zach Dawes, and Benji. It includes collaborations with Jon Batiste, Bleachers, Father John Misty, Tommy Genesis, SYML and Riopy.
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