via @waiste_vintage
As the summer comes to a close, a familiar creeping feeling comes over me. It’s a feeling characterised by sunsets and still being awake at sunrise; lying in bed on creased bed sheets, the weak evening light falling through the window; hot oven-like temperatures; warm beers; wasted days; listlessness; boredom; frustration. All in all, I’ve come to call this “Lana Del Rey Season”, and as the songstress prepares to release her long awaited fifth album this Friday, the seasonal feeling couldn’t be more aptly named. But what are the defining features of LDR Season, you might ask? Here, I outline the tell-tale signs that the season of sad girls, stagnant heat and reckless romance is upon us.
End of summer melancholia
via @lanadelrey
As temperatures reach over 30 degrees here in Berlin, it might be hard to believe that autumn is on its way. While hot temps in early June spread happiness and a silly sense of possibility, by the end of August, too-warm weather can suck the life—and dreams—out of you. Most notably, Del Rey sang about this in her iconic 2013 track, “Summertime Sadness” characterising a whole season of doom and gloom that previously all of us seasonal summer sufferers were too embarrassed to admit to. Summer may be the most blissful time of year, but is it also is a time of crankiness and bitter vibes as you come to the realisation that holidays don’t last forever, and work and real life must resume.
Track: “Summertime Sadness”
Bonus: “Sad Girl” or “Summer Bummer“
Crazy crushes and desperate desire
via @lanadelrey
Would it be even end-of-summer if we weren’t questioning all of our life choices, but most notably our romantic ones? Late summer is characterised by strange, wild-eyed recklessness almost as though love and romance are finite resources rapidly depleting with the onset of grounded autumn. It’s a time to consider people you might not have thought of as viable romantic partners before; to be driven crazy by running into your ex; over-the-top dates; sexy soirees; violent jealousies; ferocious insecurities and grandiose romantic gestures. Del Rey, of course, sings about all of this across her back catalogue. In “Young and Beautiful” she recounts those “Hot summer nights, mid July/When you and I were forever wild”, but a Lana-love story never lasts—inevitably the boyfriends are bad and the women are desperate and love is a terrible, terrible thing. In “Cruel World”, she croons “I shared my body and my mind with you/ That’s all over now.” Crazy summer romances burn out as quickly as they spark.
Track: “Born to Die”
Bonus: “Lust for life”
August ennui
via @lanadelrey
Del Rey’s songs are heavy with the fog of boredom and frustration—”Lying on my bed it’s a bummer,” as she sings in “White Mustang”. Lana Del Rey Season— alternatively titled “Sad Girl Summer”—is a season dense with pointlessness, uncertainty and putting all your better life choices on hold until the weather cools down and you can think clearly again. Del Rey’s sonic scape is a hazy world of messy, sunlit bedrooms, stifling cars and lonely poolsides. It’s a cinematic scene defined by getting dressed up and having nowhere to go, of being sad and not knowing why, of driving to nowhere, the numbing sensation of sipping on an overpriced cocktail, chain smoking if you smoke, of uneasiness and chaotic melancholy all rolled into one.
Track: “Video Games”
Bonus: “High By The Beach”
Bad life choices
via @lanadelrey
Part of the reason why the music of Del Rey is so relatable is because it describes those less than desirable sides of ourselves—the side that won’t go home from the party, who chases the wrong person, who acts selfishly, carelessly and without a thought for the consequences. As summer comes to a close, you might have noticed that you and all your friends are acting a little wired—have you snapped at someone recently for no reason, convinced a pal to stay out drinking with you, indulged in ludicrous social media stalking, or spent all your paycheck on the sort of slinky glamorous sheath only to be worn once to impress the abstract object of your affections? Then you might just be in the throes of Del Rey season, where bad life choices are the order of the day.
Track: “F**ked My Way Up To The Top” Bonus: “Freak”
The pressing feeling that it’s time to get your life back together
via @sleepingwithlana
As the nights steadily grow shorter and piles of fuzzy sweaters slowly replace crop tops on shop floors, it’s time to admit that you’ve got to get your life back on track. Those wild, crazy nights of crying and screaming at your friends and lovers can’t last forever, after all. The prosecco has stopped flowing, the party is officially over, it’s time to sleep, wipe your face clean of mascara crumbs, take out the empty beer bottles and face the music. You might feel sad about it—as Lana sings on her one of her newest tracks “The Greatest”: “I’m facing the greatest/the greatest loss of them all”—but really, enough is enough. Del Rey puts it best when she says, “I had a ball/ I guess that I’m burned out after all.” September can’t come quick enough.
Track: “The Greatest”
Bonus: “13 Beaches”