Siren Call
Lana Del Rey On Her Sultry Single "Video Games" and Her Controversial Musical Background
By Patrick Bowman
Photographed by Nicole Nodland
Lana Del Rey's recent performance of her much-discussed, quietly devastating single "Video Games" on BBC2's Later...with Jools Holland showed off the 24-year-old songstress' stirring vocal talents (the breathy caesura and ensuing pitch change during "I know you like the bad girls, honey // Is that true?" was alone worth the price of admission) as well as her fragile, smoldering stage presence. And for Del Rey's detractors, of which they are legion, her appearance on Later... also seemed to temporarily cool the fires of debate.
The blogosphere moaned loudly during the late summer over Del Rey's semi-construction by interested record label gurus (she admits that managers came up with the name Lana Del Rey), which came complete with an almost too-perfect collection of influences and styles including Elvis Presley, Britney Spears and Nancy Sinatra. For Del Rey, whose real name is Lizzy Grant, the development of her aesthetic was much more simple.
"When I first got to New York City, I was 18, and playing acoustic sets. Stylistically, I think my music has kind of stayed the same since then," says Del Rey. "My songs have always had a darker undertone just because...it came naturally."
Del Rey grew up in Lake Placid, NY, a national forest haven near the US-Canada border. The town was a dying resort destination known for its fading tourist industry and withered nostalgia. And while it wasn't necessarily the best place for a hopeful singer songwriter to be inspired, Del Rey says her earliest musical tendencies were always imbued with the dark side of the American dream her hometown represented. She also says that her songs' tone and feel have varied little since she began, slick, retro-sounding moniker or not.
"A lot of people think my music is well crafted, but I've been doing it for eight years without any attention," she says. "If it's well crafted now, then I'm not sure what it was back then."
Del Rey eventually recorded the Kill Kill EP as Lizzy Grant in 2009, and hooked up with super producer David Kahne (Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks, The Strokes) to put together a full-length album in 2010. The finished product ended up being shelved for unknown reasons.
"Video Games," however, proved to be a turning point, despite being written during a time when Del Rey prioritized her life and pushed songwriting and performing to the back burner. She was still preparing material for her debut album, but was focused more intensely on the people in her life and thinking less about the artistic success she had been grasping at the past few years.
"'Video Games' is a song I love every part of. I wrote it when I let go of ambitions and just wrote about my life," said Del Rey. "I know there is sort of feminist thing surround that song, like, 'This is a step back for women...all she does is dress up and watch her boyfriend play video games.' But the truth is, I wrote that song when I was putting my life and the people in it first, and I was singing about the things that made me happy."
With a dozen more sold out tour dates booked through the end of the year in Europe and the US, and the impending reveal of her debut album in early 2012, Del Rey appears ready to move beyond the white noise of music blog chatter that's surrounded her every move since this past summer. And If anything is evidenced by the "Video Games"/"Blue Jeans" single, currently out now, there are considerable depths to be explored in Del Rey's bold, sultry voice and elegiac songwriting.
"I think when you start singing young, and you don't get attention for a long time, you sort of let go of the outcome, and stop wondering what other people are thinking about you," continued Del Rey. "Once everyone does start thinking about you, and they all kind of decide something, you realize 'Well, that's not really what I expected, but what am I going to do now?' I know I'm just going to keep singing."
Del Rey's "Video Games/Blue Jeans" single is available on iTunes.
The blogosphere moaned loudly during the late summer over Del Rey's semi-construction by interested record label gurus (she admits that managers came up with the name Lana Del Rey), which came complete with an almost too-perfect collection of influences and styles including Elvis Presley, Britney Spears and Nancy Sinatra. For Del Rey, whose real name is Lizzy Grant, the development of her aesthetic was much more simple.
"When I first got to New York City, I was 18, and playing acoustic sets. Stylistically, I think my music has kind of stayed the same since then," says Del Rey. "My songs have always had a darker undertone just because...it came naturally."
Del Rey grew up in Lake Placid, NY, a national forest haven near the US-Canada border. The town was a dying resort destination known for its fading tourist industry and withered nostalgia. And while it wasn't necessarily the best place for a hopeful singer songwriter to be inspired, Del Rey says her earliest musical tendencies were always imbued with the dark side of the American dream her hometown represented. She also says that her songs' tone and feel have varied little since she began, slick, retro-sounding moniker or not.
"A lot of people think my music is well crafted, but I've been doing it for eight years without any attention," she says. "If it's well crafted now, then I'm not sure what it was back then."
Del Rey eventually recorded the Kill Kill EP as Lizzy Grant in 2009, and hooked up with super producer David Kahne (Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks, The Strokes) to put together a full-length album in 2010. The finished product ended up being shelved for unknown reasons.
"Video Games," however, proved to be a turning point, despite being written during a time when Del Rey prioritized her life and pushed songwriting and performing to the back burner. She was still preparing material for her debut album, but was focused more intensely on the people in her life and thinking less about the artistic success she had been grasping at the past few years.
"'Video Games' is a song I love every part of. I wrote it when I let go of ambitions and just wrote about my life," said Del Rey. "I know there is sort of feminist thing surround that song, like, 'This is a step back for women...all she does is dress up and watch her boyfriend play video games.' But the truth is, I wrote that song when I was putting my life and the people in it first, and I was singing about the things that made me happy."
With a dozen more sold out tour dates booked through the end of the year in Europe and the US, and the impending reveal of her debut album in early 2012, Del Rey appears ready to move beyond the white noise of music blog chatter that's surrounded her every move since this past summer. And If anything is evidenced by the "Video Games"/"Blue Jeans" single, currently out now, there are considerable depths to be explored in Del Rey's bold, sultry voice and elegiac songwriting.
"I think when you start singing young, and you don't get attention for a long time, you sort of let go of the outcome, and stop wondering what other people are thinking about you," continued Del Rey. "Once everyone does start thinking about you, and they all kind of decide something, you realize 'Well, that's not really what I expected, but what am I going to do now?' I know I'm just going to keep singing."
Del Rey's "Video Games/Blue Jeans" single is available on iTunes.
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