RELEASE: Female music artists Lana Del Rey and Lorde release singles from their upcoming albums.
By Emma Carson, Staff Writer
Lana Del Rey and Lorde, two well-known artists in similar genres of music, released new singles, teasing their respective upcoming albums Lust for Life and Melodrama. The two artists have strong, coinciding fanbases for the most part. Where there is Lana, there is Lorde, and vice versa; however, with these artists releasing music in close proximity to each other, fans are led to speculate their competitiveness. So far, the quality of their music is to the fans’ taste, and they cannot wait for the full album experience.
Del Rey’s new single “Love” was released on February 18, followed by a trailer for the Lust for Life album released late March. It had a mysterious yet charming aesthetic and no release date, but later issued the title track on April 19, featuring The Weeknd. The full album is rumored to make its debut on May 26. As fans have been waiting five years for a new solo album, Lorde released her highly anticipated new single “Green Light” on March 2. Another single from Melodrama, “Liability” was released on March 10, but her full album is anticipated for June 16.
Del Rey’s fifth album transitions to a new aesthetic. Her new album cover with cursive font features the artist with a charismatic smile, which contrasts her somber expression in past albums. She calls this aesthetic “retro sensibility with a futuristic flare.” From the 1960s Hollywood glamour of Born to Die (2012), Paradise (2012) and Honeymoon (2015) to the late ‘60s and ‘70s rock in Ultraviolence (2014), this new album seems very different from the previous four. “I made my first four albums for me, but this one is for my fans and about where I hope we are all headed,” Del Rey said. The tone of the music seems more upbeat than her previous despairing tone utilized in her masterpieces.
Melodrama is Lorde’s sophomore album, but that does not mean she is any less successful than Del Rey; in fact, she may be even more successful, as her first album became mainstream and had a style audiences found pleasant. From the seventeen-year-old girl that society first met to this more sophisticated artist, Lorde’s music might be losing its teenage flare, but fans have no doubt that this album will be phenomenal due to the success of her very promising 2012 album Pure Heroine.
In the past, there has been tension between the two artists. Lorde made a comment about Del Rey’s music style, stating, “It’s so unhealthy for young girls to be listening to, you know: ‘I’m nothing without you.’ This sort of shirt-tugging, desperate, don’t leave me stuff. That’s not a good thing for young girls, even young people, to hear.” She later stated that she does not mean the music is bad. On Twitter, Lana Del Rey liked a tweet from a fan account mocking Lorde’s style. The tweet said, “I bought this for you @lordemusic,” and it included a picture of a bracelet with wall tacks facing inward. The tweet has since been deleted, and the account “LanaDaily” has been suspended for other reasons. Neither of them have directly made negative comments about the other, but fans speculate a competitiveness between the two, especially with the close release dates of their new music.
Both artists are known for putting out amazing music; regardless of their competition, their music is unique to each of them.