Lana Del Rey Releases New Album “NFR!”
About a year after being announced, on Aug. 30, Lana Del Rey released her fifth studio album, Norman F*****g Rockwell!
NFR! features 14 tracks. Del Rey began releasing singles for the album in 2018, beginning with “Mariners Apartment Complex,” and followed by the nine-minute-long “Venice B*tch.” In 2019, she released “hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have – but I have it,” and a cover of Sublime’s “Doin’ Time,” which is also featured on NFR!
Del Rey teased this album for almost a year, leaving clues for fans to piece together. Billboard said that the title of the album was released in the lyrics of “Venice B*tch,” where in a verse she mentioned American painter, author, and illustrator, Norman Rockwell.
Four-time Grammy Award-winning producer, Jack Antonoff, collaborated with Del Rey for NFR! He previously worked with artists such as Lorde and Taylor Swift. Del Rey said in a Billboard interview that she was not in the mood to write music, until she met Antonoff. He played ten minutes of atmospheric riffs, and she was able to envision her new album, which she calls “a folk record with a little surf twist.”
Del Rey said she’s finding her muse through her music: “My little heart’s path has such a distinct road that it’s almost taking me along for the ride.”
The album officially announced in June 2019. She posted a photo on Instagram of her four singles on Jun. 15, with the caption “I luv the songs I put out over the last year.” The same day, she posted a video of herself singing along to a song, with the caption “Title track” and a hashtag featuring the name of the album and song.
On Jul. 31, Del Rey posted a photo with the album artwork, and announced that it would release on Aug. 30.
Currently, NFR! is number one on the Official U.K. Albums Chart Update. This is Del Rey’s fourth U.K. number one since Born to Die (2012), Ultraviolence (2014), and Lust for Life (2017).
Del Rey promotes her new album in with live shows beginning on Sept. 21 at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, NY, spanning to some other events in North America, followed by European shows in 2020.
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Kayla Mutchler is a senior studying communication double concentrating in journalism and digital media. She joined The Charger Bulletin as a staff writer...