Norman F**king Rockwell is Lana Del Rey's best album yet

American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey released her sixth studio album and fifth major-label album, Norman F**king Rockwell (NFR), on Aug. 30, 2019. The long awaited album has received almost unanimous praise and fantastic reviews. With her music, Lana Del Rey has embodied a glamorous character preoccupied with the romantically depressing American Dream. She’s known to allude to classic American literary figures such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Walt Whitman, as well as all-American music icons like Lou Reed and The Beach Boys. In her new album, she’s anything but subtle about the influence that the American Dream has had on her work.  The album’s namesake, Norman Rockwell, was a painter known for his depictions of American families in the 1950’s and 60’s that look so idyllic and perfect that they could pass for propaganda. Rockwell was intent on capturing the American dream, something everyone wanted but nobody really had. Del Rey ties the themes of Rockwell’s work back to present day, where the American dream has not only changed significantly, but has become far more difficult to achieve due to the changes in the economy and the political climate. In NFR, she writes about the various difficulties that she’s faced living in contemporary America.  Del Rey is no stranger to sad songs and is known for her melancholy and emotional music. In her song “hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have - but i have it,” she sings, “Don’t ask if I’m happy, you know that I’m not, but at least I can say I’m not sad.” The song is about Lana’s unhappiness living in today’s age, but the “today’s age” she sings of feels more like the 1950’s. The lyrics suggest she feels more apathetic and numb than actively depressed. She sings about how she’s compared to a debutant who wears pink dresses and hangs out on yachts, and how she’s unhappy with this comparison. Although the character she has built for herself relates to the rich and pretty housewives of the 1950’s who had all the material things they could wish for but were still unhappy, the real Del Rey isn’t one of them. Her lyrics resemble a quote from Sylvia Plath, an American feminist writer. “I may never be happy, but tonight I am content”. Plath is mentioned in the chorus of her song. Plath wouldn’t typically be associated with housewives and debutantes, which explains why Del Rey alludes to her so much in the song; she’s trying to prove to people that the depressed housewife isn’t who she really is. The music itself is similar to her previous work, but it is apparent in NFR that she’s trying to stray further from some of the pop influences she’s had in the past. This album has been described as folk-rock and psychedelic-pop, as opposed to her older works which have been more hardcore, pure pop. The album is full of beautiful songs with very thought out, deep lyrics, but may not be suitable for everyone. The majority of her songs are slow in tempo and in a minor key, with lyrics designed to make the listener feel sad. The most upbeat and pop-sounding track on the album is “Doin’ Time,” but even that song is in a minor key and has morose lyrics. It’s a universal knowledge among Del Rey’s fans that her music should not be listened to while in a good mood, as it’s almost guaranteed to make even the happiest listener feel sad. NFR is clearly no exception. The problem with a predominantly sad album is that although every song is unique and distinct, when listened to all together they blend into one another, therefore they feel muddled and lose their effect. For the best experience, listen to the songs on this album at different times rather than one after the other. Each song has very different sounds and moods that tend to get lost and feel muddy when the songs are listened to back to back