Lana Del Rey Closes the Summer out with Breezy "Mariners Apartment Complex"
Interscope / Polydor
Fresh off of 2017's Grammy-nominated Lust for Life, Lana Del Rey provides a breezy close to summer with her latest single, "Mariners Apartment Complex," the first off her upcoming 2019 album. Surprisingly, this may be one of Lana's most accessible singles yet. While Lust for Life's lead single, "Love," was a lush culmination of aged glamour and cinematic elements, "Complex" is more in the vein of California-bred surf rock.
Scholars of Del Rey's repertoire know that beaches have been a recurring theme in the star's lyricism and videography. From "High by the Beach" to "13 Beaches," Del Rey has upheld the beach as her haven from the public eye, and in a way, from herself. She expands on this concept with "Complex" by folding elements of surf music with more mature lyricism and vocal stylings. While much of Del Rey's earlier music was trademarked by a high-pitched tone, hazy vocal filters, and elaborate metaphors about money, sex, and power, "Complex" marks the start of a cleaner era. The lyricism is precise and succinct ("'Cause even in the dark I feel your resistance/You can see my heart burning in the distance") and her vocals are purer than ever before.
The Twittersphere has come to the conclusion that this song stems from an incident in 2014 concerning Del Rey's interview with The Guardian at the Mariners Apartment Complex. In the interview, Lana uttered the infamous and controversial phrase, "I wish I was dead already." She seemingly alludes to the experience from the very first line on "Complex," "You took my sadness out of context/At the Mariners Apartment Complex." With this interpretation and the newfound maturity of Del Rey's singing and production, maybe Del Rey will reveal more about herself and less about her musical persona with this 2019 album. Finally, she cheekily teases her audience and invites them to join her on her journey with those final lines, "catch a wave and take in the sweetness.... are you ready for it?"
SCORE: 91
