Lana Del Rey’s midsummer dream comes alive on new single and video, “West Coast”

Yesterday, Lana Del Rey premiered her new single “West Coast”, an exquisite, slow-tempo counterpart of “Summertime Sadness.” After surprising Coachella fans last weekend with an onstage debut, Del Rey released the studio version of the song with its music video featuring looped black-and-white footage of an unforgettable beach moment. The baroque pop ballad foreshadows her “absolutely gorgeous, darker” upcoming album Ultraviolence that she produced in collaboration with the Black Keys record producer, Dan Auerbach.

In recurring scenes, the video finds Lana Del Rey on the beach, reveling in the embrace of her lover before spinning out of his arms. “West Coast” encapsulates this ebb and flow with a moody rhythm that shifts between the verses and the chorus, altering between the freedom and the intensity of being in love. The surf-guitar line and drum fill wind through the verses, emulating Lana’s boundless fantasy of taking chances in love, which she finds in the West Coast, saying “If you’re not drinking, then you’re not playing.” She rises to the height of this passion in the breaking, slow-burning chorus. The oozing synthesized background and the unleashed flow of melodic ambiance create a surreal moment and it all comes to life.

Article by Ning De-Eknamkul