Lana Del Rey’s ‘Chemtrails Over the Country Club’ proves a worthy listen

Elle Vail ’23, Staff Writer|April 5, 2021

Elle Vail ’23

Lana Del Rey’s newest album, “Chemtrails Over the Country Club,” hits number one of Billboard’s albums, topping even Justin Bieber’s “Justice” which was released on the same day.

Lana Del Rey’s “Chemtrails Over the Country Club,” released March 19, 2021, just hit number one of Billboard’s Top Album Sales Chart as of March 29, 2021. According to Billboard, her seventh album sold 58,000 copies in its first week, making Del Rey’s achievements that week being superior to any other female artists’ so far this year. This album is her third “chart-topper” of all time and it even topped Justin Bieber’s latest album, “Justice,” which debuted on the same day; this album proves to be a worthy purchase, and it is most definitely worth a listen for Lana-fans.

Del Rey’s dreamy music has gotten a thorough amount of backlash due to what some critique as “glamorizing of abuse”; however, her songs have landed her with a successful nine-year career of six Grammy nominations. 

“I’m just a glamorous person singing about the realities of what we are all now seeing are very prevalent emotionally abusive relationships all over the world,” Del Rey said in response to these comments, according to Insider.

This is incredibly important to take into account when listening to her own “Chemtrails Over the Country Club,” which reveals a number of dark and complex relationships that can make us more aware of the relationships around us.

These controversial messages can be seen in track number three of her new album in the song “Tulsa Jesus Freak.” With an eye-catching title, this song is speculated to refer to Del Rey’s ex, Sean Larkin who starred in “Live PD” as a police officer of Tulsa. The song discusses the acceptance of her man’s dependence on alcohol. This can be seen through the lines, “keep that bottle at your hand, my man.”

The continuation of the relationship, despite the emotional divide alcoholism causes, is a repeated theme through previously released songs too, such as her 2012 song, “Video Games.” The song says, “open up a beer, you say, ‘get over here.’” Her 2019 song, “How to disappear,” repeats this once more with the line, “you just crack a beer, and pretend that you’re still here.”

Due to the complexity of the song and the high chords’ contrast with the fast tempo, “Tulsa Jesus Freak” is one of many of my favorite songs on this album. 

Although much of her new songs are on the darker side, they ultimately have an optimistic side too, proving Del Rey’s talent in experimenting with various different plots to her songs. One such optimistic song that I love is “Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost,” with its soothing guitar, slow singing, and it is a classic Lana, wispy song.

In the end, this album is a beautiful tribute to Lana Del Rey’s talents and depth of meaning in her songs. Her work in this album deserves an A from me.