“For the first time, I’ve caught myself up to real time,” Lana stated in explaining Lust For Life. Less of the hopeless romantic, Lust For Life brings us a new socially aware and emotional Lana addressing the world we now live in.
As Lana’s fifth studio album Lust For Life is truly unique in her works, conveying her quintessential romantic classical style while unveiling her obvious patriarchal feelings towards America. Like any new album it was imperative for Lana to bring in a familiarity within the new tracks while subtly transitioning into a more mature sound. This record is a real turning point in Lana’s success. While fans can resonate with the familiar warm instrumentals and classical melodies running deep in tracks such as ‘Love’, Lana has also drawn in her own social worries and love towards America that she effortlessly conveys in her typical moody and retro style.
Within the album tracks parallel that of the former ‘Born to Die’ with a new anthem ‘God Bless America’ proving crucially current and similar to that of ‘National Anthem’. The raw sounding vocals bring our attention to lyrics such as “may you stand strong and proud” and “all the beautiful women in it”. Lana portrays women as strong and equally beautiful, focusing on social issues and perhaps referring to fears of the loss of identity in America and the need she feels to retain America as a nation.
In the album’s progression American identity is significant too in ‘When the World Was At War We Kept Dancing’. As one of the weaker songs on the album, the track feels erratic and highly concerned “Is it the end of America?” – which is perhaps Lana’s own opinion in light of recent political disruption, for internal social unrest is shining through in this track. Nevertheless it’s still angrily patriotic; Lust For Life shows a new side to Lana as very in touch with her national identity.
No longer are Lana’s tracks focused around affairs of romance or the heart, the album is mature and acknowledges a wider array of concerns, very apparent in ‘Coachella – Woodstock In My Mind’. With lyrics such as, “What about all these children?” and “around their heads I say a prayer”, this track ties in true Lana style retro references to 1969 Woodstock while as an artist she uses the track to extend her own influence conveying her own worries regarding society today. A darker tone underlies ‘Coachella-Woodstock In My Mind’ as listeners we can only infer these worries are associated with the unstable political times and climate change children today will be burdened with.
Aside from her ingenious use of music to draw in social contexts there are many tracks within this album highlighting a darker reflection of fame. ‘Heroin’ reflects deep struggles about living and loss of control “dreaming about Heroin” similarly to former track ‘High By The Beach’. Lana is strikingly honest as always in her music, not afraid to highlight difficulties in living a famous life. There is a similar tone to ’13 Beaches’ a stunningly elegant stripped back song regarding the struggle in finding peace and the sacrifice of fame. “I still get lonely” she croons, the song acting anecdotally for Lana who tries to find a beach to herself in her quest for some peace.
Collaborations with A$AP Rocky in ‘Summer Bummer’ (one of the record’s most popular songs), ‘Groupie Love’ and album title-track ‘Lust For Life’ with The Weekend work seamlessly. Lana’s strong classical vocals contrast both artists and similarly to ‘Love’ , ‘Lust For Life’ is a typical Lana song exploring desire and passion and their essential contribution to life “keep us alive”. Both of these tracks are the richest with regards to being musically produced, providing stark contrast to the many stripped back and acoustic sounding songs like the collaboration ‘Tomorrow Never Came’ with Sean Ono Lennon that also references musical icons in The Beatles and Elton John.
While the melancholy Lana is still present in the album Lust for Life, she has completely diversified with a range of poignant messages channelled into a variety of styles both softer and more chaotically uncharacteristically Lana like the angry ‘In My Feelings’ and chilled ‘Summer Bummer’. There is less of the longing and obsessive adoration felt in former albums as Lana reflects upon our world today, while she subtly pays homage to former music icons. Lust For Life is a masterpiece in switching up her style and extending her influence in beautifully crafted songs.
While some believe Lana is an acquired musical taste, Lust For Life pushes these boundaries as Lana encompasses new sounds, the album is a guaranteed worthwhile listen for both hopeless romantic Lana fans and those previously undetermined.
Words by Megan Tarbuck
