The annual California music festival Coachella has been hosting artists since 1995, the year of its inception as a festival, and as a cultural beacon for American music. This year’s festival in April featured three headlining artists: Tyler, The Creator, Doja Cat, and Lana Del Rey. While all three artists brought something different to the table, Lana Del Rey reverted to her classic, trademark “Americana” style that so many of her fans, including myself, missed. Lana’s career-defining album “Born To Die” transformed the singer’s career and sent her into the spotlight where she has seemed to remain ever since. To match her orchestral, emotional style of music, Lana Del Rey’s style on “Born To Die” is associated with the Americana aesthetic, characterized by her portrayals of classic American figures such as Jackie Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe in the music videos for her 2012 album. While Lana’s “old Hollywood” style seemed to define her music in 2012, the artist tends to change her style for every studio album she releases. Her 2014 album “Ultraviolence”, for example, was almost exclusively rock.
Additionally, Lana’s latest album, released in 2023, seems to embrace the “coquette” aesthetic and mainly features the piano as opposed to her typical choice, the violin. While it is acknowledged that the singer tends to delve into a variety of styles and aesthetics, her 2023 era admittedly seems to be a major step away from the original 2012 Lana Del Rey that so many of her fans love. This is most likely due to the singer’s experimentation with more personal topics and slower melodies in her newer music. While this sense of musical maturity is admirable, I know both myself and other Lana fans admittedly miss the original, “Ride or die” sense of adventure in her music, where she seemed to constantly live life on the edge. However, Lana’s flamboyant Coachella entrance was precisely the blast from the past fans (and myself) needed. In addition to her riding on the back of a motorcycle, followed by an entourage of other bikes, her hair was changed from her latest dark color back to her classic 2012 honey color with roller curls.
In addition, her unreleased song “Jealous Girl”, leaked in 2012, played in the background. It seemed already that Coachella 2024 would mark the latest Lana Del Rey-style transformation — a transformation that, unlike the past, is the reinvention of her “Born To Die” era. In addition to her entrance, Lana’s setlist featured classics like “Ride” and “Without You”, songs that would make any long-term fan gleam with nostalgia. While it may be possible that Lana’s new (or old) look could be exclusively tied to Coachella, her ethereal 2024 Met Gala appearance only confirms what fans predict; a new, yet familiar age of Lana Del Rey is dawning — one that was greatly missed, and will be greatly welcomed.
