Oh man, where to even start with this? Aptly, Lana del Rey blessed the world with the single from her pending album in the month of love. While few artists could successfully pull of releasing a song titled “Love” just in time for Valentine’s Day, Lana del Rey’s offering is enough to win over even the cynic among us. It’s pretty much impossible to discuss Love without mentioning the exquisite music video that accompanies the song. I’m of the opinion that it’s more Oscar-worthy than La La Land, but that’s a topic for another day. I suppose you can actually summarise the success of Love in one word – nostalgia. Lana is famous for making music that’s really modern, but also really retro. This song is a great example of that. In her distinctly moody style, Lana ponders young love. She explores one of my favourite ideas – the way in which mundane things become magical when you’re in love, and the way in which quiet moments are far more romantic than the grand gestures and emotional tumult emphasized in modern Western culture. “You get ready / You get all dressed up / To go nowhere in particular / Back to work or the coffee shop / It don’t matter because it’s enough to be young and in love” The way in which the music video captures this idea is really quite phenomenal – an otherworldly landscape juxtaposed by everyday young love. It’s a simple, creative way to express an abstract thought, and it’s so beautifully executed that there’s nothing forced, contrived or obvious about it. Nothing fancy, just Love. The song itself has got you feeling dreamy as you listen, it’s soothing, nostalgic and gritty in its own unique way. What is it about Lana del Rey’s approach that keeps a song called Love from being cheesy? Of course, we must give a moment of airtime to her distinct, lush vocal that brings to mind old school crooners. It’s arguably also owed to the creative, layered instrumental that cushions her cultivated vocal skill. It’s emotive, without trying to be. Lana seems to be describing moments from her everyday life, and perhaps also following the first rule of good writing – show, don’t tell. Like many of her other songs, Lana strikes a beautiful balance between revealing and concealing. Whether her feelings are specific or universal is not made clear to us, but as I listen I know that I can relate. This also makes me think of the different ways of knowing – we know Love is authentic because it quite simply feels authentic. We know it’s beautiful because it sounds and looks beautiful. It is left open ended because it doesn’t need to be explained, and the general specificness of it makes it both easy to relate to and dreamy as hell. The video is like the grown up realisation of the rudimentary clips del Rey put together in her early career, and the fact that her hand is as strongly in the visuals as the music is unmistakeable. Perhaps authenticity is what inevitably comes when people are true to themselves. It is my private hope that Lana del Rey never stops releasing music.
