During her acceptance speech at this year’s Ivor Novello Awards in London, Lana Del Rey highlighted the changing attitudes towards domestic violence and her passion for female expression in music. Upon receiving the Special International Award, Lana referenced how perceptions of her and artists like her have evolved since she first emerged back in the early 2010s. “When I started, I think a lot of things were written about how the songs were sort of naval-gazing just about my experience with challenging relationships,” Lana noted on stage. “Now, what we’ve seen is that those songs were not written about a small microcosm of people and women”.
Lana also referenced recent news that violence in relationships had increased by 300% since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. She went on to highlight the importance of female singer-songwriters’ ability to write about whatever they want without fear of judgment. “It was always kind of nerve-wracking to think that writing about relationships would be seen as something self-gratuitous or feigning vulnerability. It’s a very vulnerable thing – not just for women, but for men.”
Del Rey also revealed she had once written a song for a James Bond film but that the franchise’s producers had turned it down. The track called ‘24’, eventually featured on her fourth album ‘Honeymoon’, but had been tailored for the Bond film Spectre. During the same interview, Lana discussed her upcoming country-inspired album, ‘Lasso’, which is scheduled for release in September. Despite Del Rey previously finding vindication in her career, being a long-standing artist has rendered everything “easy-going” and “playful” rather than anything else.
Finally, it is worth noting that Lana is due to perform as one of the headliners at Reading & Leeds 2024, alongside artists such as Liam Gallagher, Blink-182, Fred Again, Gerry Cinnamon, and Catfish & The Bottlemen. The festivals take place from August 21-25 and tickets are on sale now for both locations
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