The Pop Corporation

When Lana Del Rey dropped a big country music sized hint, everyone who cared wondered how the whole thing would shape up. We daydreamed about which country lane she’d take, hoping she’d go for a luxurious, melancholic, orchestral version of bruised balladry.

While Lana has a number of strings to her bow, it does feel like a stretch to imagine her slapping her thigh and having a hoe-down, right? Although, not impossible.

After months of speculation and a surprising marriage to Some Guy, the music is finally here with ‘Henry, Come On’ and we find her singing: “All these country singers, and their lonely rides to Houston don’t really make for the best… y’know… settle-down type…” which is pretty perfect as a Lana Del Rey take.

She also coos “I’ll still be nice to your mom – it’s not her fault you’re leavin’”, showing that there’s not many people in the current pop landscape able to spin a yarn quite like she can.

The whole thing floats along like the perfume off honeysuckle, and not necessarily outwardly country music, but rather, American. All of Lana Del Rey’s music is indebted to the country she hails from, mining the stories and existential melancholy that hangs over smalltown USA. With that, this country-ish direction makes perfect sense.

The mythology of the US is what Lana is really good at, whether she’s looking toward the wives of the country club, the weirdness of Los Angeles, or now, cowboys hanging up their hats and wearing soft leather.

We were right to think she’d be more ‘Saunders Ferry Lane’ than honky-tonkin’, and the strings that ache and bend through ‘Henry, Come On’ are cinematic and filled with the weight of menace that Del Rey likes to lean on, while still sounding sweet and light. The maximal approach of the ‘Ultraviolence’ era is a thing of the past, for now, and it feels like ‘The Right Person Will Stay’ is going to go for nuance and elegance instead.

Who can say if she’s been listening to Lambchop records and Emmylou’s ‘Wrecking Ball’, but this is a version of country music that’s woozily hot and as still as a backroad in Louisiana.

Does this mean the album is going to be a hit? It almost certainly will, because of her devoted fanbase. Will it be a classic? ‘Henry, Come On’ isn’t going to answer that, as this feels like she’s setting the scene, rather than making any statement of intent.

Have a listen.