Fans are officially going crazy trying to dig up any information they can about Lana Del Rey's Lust for Life after she released the trailer for her upcoming album. It doesn't appear to be a departure from the style we've come to know and love; she teased the project with visuals that look like they're ripped straight out of an episode of The Twilight Zone. The feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive, with the lead single for the album, "Love," garnering praise for its trippy music video and classic Del Rey vibes.
Though Del Rey tends to project mystery to the public, we already know a decent amount about Lust for Life ahead of its release. Here's everything we know so far about her soon-to-be fifth studio album.
Release Date
When it comes to the release date, the only thing we know for sure is that Lust For Life is "coming soon." That's the official word straight from Del Rey herself, and who are we to tell her otherwise?
The vagueness is a departure from past releases from Del Rey, who tends to reveal release dates while performing. She dropped the release date for Ultraviolence at a 2014 concert in Montreal, and in the run-up to 2015's Honeymoon, she told fans at a May 2015 performance that the album would be coming later that September. Del Rey later released a music video for Honeymoon's title track in mid-July, which revealed the rest of the album details, including the artwork, tracklist, and pre-order information.
If Del Rey says it's coming soon, it's probably coming soon. The best way to find out for sure may be to attend a concert of hers, because her track record shows she loves to go directly to her fans with information on release dates.
Cover Art
The project may not have an official release date yet, but Lust For Life does have an album cover. Del Rey shared it with her fans on April 11.
Vevo does that—they don’t always differentiate between the video producer and the producers of the record, the music, etc. I am just happy to be in their fine company, some of the finest music minds in the industry.
Features
One artist who sounds like a lock on the album is the Weeknd. In the aforementioned Lust For Life trailer, the Weeknd's XO logo makes an appearance, and a previous tweet from Del Rey fueled the fire of his involvement in the project:
More proof: his name is already being credited in an ASCAP listing for the album.
Elsewhere, rumors are flying about names new and old being involved. Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon (yes, John Lennon's son) are thought to be involved, and the logo of their record company (Chimera Music) is the winged-creature to the right of the Weeknd's logo you see above. Lennon has already started helping to promote Del Rey's album on his Facebook page, and teased fans with a mysterious message: "The 'ingredients' she puts in look very fascinating!"
Del Rey has also recently expressed her admiration for Courtney Love on Twitter, and songwriter BØRNS did not exactly dismiss a fan's hope that he'd team up with Del Rey for a collaboration:
Producers
On the Vevo version of the Lust For Life trailer, four producers are listed: Benny Blanco, Emile Haynie, Rick Nowels and Clark Jackson. Jackson, who was the director for the video, recently did an interview about his experience working with Lana, and was coy about who was being credited and why:
There are a multitude of hits that have been worked on by that group of producers, so Del Rey fans can start getting excited about what's to come. Nowels is a long-time collaborator with Del Rey, having produced past singles "West Coast" and "Young & Beautiful," and he shares a tight bond with the singer. Del Rey has previously called him one of her "dearest friends and producers and we are always up to something."
In fact, all three of the Nowels-Blanco-Haynie trio have Grammy awards to their credit, so while Del Rey has songwriting chops to achieve great things on her own, it certainly doesn't hurt that Lust For Life is in capable hands behind-the-scenes.
Expectations
Following in the footsteps of other artists in 2017, Del Rey's album is set to feature a more political, socially-conscious tone than previous efforts. She explained to BBC Radio's Jo Wiley that it was tough to ignore the world around her as she was putting together the new project.
“As the climate kept on getting more heated politically," she said. "I found, like, lyrically everything was just directed towards that. So because of that, the sound just got really updated, and I felt like it was more wanting to talk to the younger side of the audience I have. I guess it’s just a little more socially aware.”
While it's hard to say just how political Del Rey is willing to get, she is clearly not a fan of the current White House. She alluded to occult rituals on her Twitter page, and her representatives later confirmed they were in reference to rituals seeking to cast Donald Trump out of office.
Del Rey might be seen as a risk-taker, comfortable being a star in her own skin, but this would be a major departure from her previous work. Moving into this sort of territory would erase some of the harshest criticisms of her work; other artists such as Kim Young of Sonic Youth have criticized her in the past for skirting around divisive topics. Del Rey has even admitted she doesn't like to talk much about politics publicly.
The title of the lead single and the album's name seem to be pointing toward a broader sense of optimism. Though the world is fixated on just how divided things have become, Del Rey's focus remains on loving life and enjoying youth while you still have it. Regardless of your politics, that's a message everyone can get behind.
