Vertimus

I agree with this assessment--maybe Lana herself now has low expectations for it and wants to give it a low-key release like BB received.

Full agree, and after she just sang, "The WAYYY John Denver sings" on The Grants.

And, though written much earlier, it has the "put your red boots on baby/giddyup" lyric.

My expectations are low. I like what I've heard of Henry well enough. Whatever Ann Powers thinks, or the critics in general, or her diehard stans, or casual fans, it will find an audience somewhere, though maybe not in large numbers for years to come. What will Country Pop fans make of it? I liked the mellower tracks on BB, except the title track, as I loved Yosemite on COCC. I wonder if the lyrics are still sketchy and generalized?

Consider it an honor.

Look, I prefer Chemtrails to NFR!, and BB to NFR! too. I prefer LFL and Paradise to Honeymoon. Why else was I nominated for Worst Taste two years ago? Our collective tastes are not as uniform and straight-forward as people assume. No doubt there are many who believe NFR! is the highlight of Lana's career and always will be, with Honeymoon and/or UV placing second and/or third, and OB also holding a prominent place, and that may be the majority, but there's thousands of us, and millions out in the wider world, with all kinds of varied tastes when it comes to Lana's albums ranking. So what are the chances hundreds here and tens of thousands elsewhere find a great deal to embrace on TRPWS? I don't ask for a solid album of songs I love from any artist. If there's 5 or 6 I love, then great. If it's only 2 or 3, good. And as we've all experienced, I think, sometimes songs grow on us over time. I took me awhile to appreciate Arcadia, but I've loved it for years now.

Obviously , disposable is subjective. I can think of one LDR album I find disposable, but which I know many or most members here love. It's too bad the speaker didn't elaborate. For a country-esque album, I'm not expecting anything supercharged, especially after the Henry snippet. Whatever will be will be.

I think he was referring just to Henry as boring, and I agree it suggests there were better options.

I know a bit about photography, and whether he colorizes poor photos to begin with or not, the end result is the same. Anais Nin.

A lot of us--perhaps most of us--think rationally and logically, but between Lana's natural temperament, her idiosyncratic approach to album releases, and the looseness of her management's style, rationality and logic aren't things we can depend on or expect. Rarely are things concerning her album releases clear, simple, and straight forward, Honeymoon and OB being the exceptions.

I don't agree about the greatness of his work elsewhere, but I certainly agree about the mediocrity of his work with Lana. Anyone can take a hazy photo of waves crashing over coastal rocks and colorize it. Praising his work with Lana would be like praising the photo art for VB or MAC, regardless of who the photographer was.

It's the tired 'tease the fanbase' strategy that some artists and managers obviously still think acceptable, when in fact it's exhausted and no longer works except for rapid stans (like us). Lord Huron released a new song today--Nothing I Need--teased a short clip of it last week on IG saying it would be released today, followed up again Wednesday, again on Thursday (yesterday) and then again last night, and today the song dropped. Bang bang.

I like what we've heard of Henry. Her voice is forward and clear, and the instrumentation is sober and precise. There's the possibility Henry may be another example of Happiness Is A Butterfly syndrome, where the track goes off into very unexpected territory. I'm excited for it. The sooner Henry is released, the better.

Yosemite is one of my Lana Top 5. You both have good taste.

Do we know Henry is acoustic all the way through?

Henry will be released, and most likely TRPWS too, if not necessarily on the given date. It's all good news.

Hurrah! The winter ice is breaking.

It's not impossible she might say, "I'd like to perform a few songs from my forthcoming album, The Right person Will Stay...." at Stagecoach and then sing 2 or 3. That used to be done all the time. She might trip over the album title, however. Regarding the title, for me, the only thing that can justify it is a song also bearing that name which turns out to be beautiful. She rides out disasters fairly well, so even if Stagecoach is a fiasco--I don't think it will be and I'm not wishing that for her--that Leo Moon will pull her through.

I don't think she would care that much about presumably negative fan reaction to 'Country Lana' when her music doesn't really fall into any category to begin with--it's is not Alternative, it's not genuinely Pop by and large, it's not Rock--it's not Indie if that term is even used anymore---it's surely not Americana--she seemed to have a style and category all her own with BTD, but she surrendered that sound within 18 months--UV sounded nothing like BTD/P. By her own admission, Honeymoon was "more like the first two" (Freak, Art Deco, High By the Beach), and then LFL was a complete grabbag of various sounds and styles. She changed everything up again with the more intimate, low-key songs on NFR! and basically stayed in that mode for the next two albums. OB was another grabbag of sounds and styles a la LFL. With legends and respected musicians like Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, the Weeknd, Stevie Nicks, Joan Baez, Father John Misty, Taylor Swift, and Courtney Love praising her and saying publicly that they're anticipating her next release, I think it's unlikely that she'd take actual or imagined 'fan silence' too much to heart, especially when her stans know she's been referring to songs like Ride as 'essentially country' for years. I think it's more likely that she was personally unhappy with whatever the first iteration of Lasso was, and perhaps her label was as well, especially since she described the songs as less personal and broader in terms of lyrical focus. So she went back to the drawing board and TRPWS resulted--which she's still promoting as something in a County mode via the Southern Gothic tag. When has Lana not been indecisive? It seems to be an ingrained part of her personality. As I've mentioned, of all the artists I've followed religiously, none--0--have ever announced and then postponed albums or changed their announced titles, said things like "I don't know when it's coming out," etc. Lana is the only one. I've been used to it for several years now. Also--it's not as if her cover of Country Roads was strong (even Courtney Love criticized it)--some fans may have interpreted it as a sign of things to come on Lasso, and just decided to remain mum.

But weren't we promised those two singles before the end of 2024?

If the album has 13 tracks, whether one or more is Tough or Country Roads or not, there's a chance we will all love 3-5 of the new tracks--or at least one--so that's something to look forward to. I was listening to I Can Fly from Big Eyes yesterday, and while I've never been a great fan of that song, I heard in it a lot of good things we haven't gotten from Lana in a while, at least to my ear. There's a lightness, ease, distance, and beauty to I Can Fly that I'd like to see on TRPWS.

Why don't we all get drunk and screw?

Something must be going on--either in terms of getting TRPWS out or in delaying or reconfiguring it again. It's unlikely she's kicking back, getting to know Jeremy better, enjoying married life and her new house and surroundings--it's possible, but unlikely. We know of very few periods--if any--since 2012 when she did a lot of nothing.

Most romances are doomed, just look at your own experiences, those of your friends and family, plus the ratio of successful romances to those that stop suddenly or break off in time. Look at all the lonely people in the world, and all the lost souls--NYC is full of them. It's hard enough--it was hard enough--in fairly homogeneous societies and cultures, which are disappearing fast, and that much harder in broader cultures. It seems today people everywhere have more differences than commonalities. So Lana's sadcore songs will always hit with a certain wounded or disappointed segment of the population. I'm the kind of person who likes the negative side of life acknowledged, and that is the main thing that initially drew me to Lana--the BTD title track, Summertime Sadness, the "I'm tired of feeling like I'm fucking crazy' from Ride, Old Money, Swan Song, 13 Beaches, White Mustang, The Greatest, WFWF, and Suburban House though Lana didn't write it. Over time, I've learned to love the happier Lana songs as well--from American through Violets For Roses and bittersweet songs like Hollywood Bowl. I'd also like to see some legitimately sad or at least 'honest about life' songs on TRPWS that really hit, and I think we will. They're her natural métier. Henry seems to be that sort of a song. I also suspect this is true. For me, it was not a change for the better, but I can see how she and others on her team might have found his work overwrought---though I don't.

I agree--probably a combination of things, some we know about and one or more we don't. I have a feeling that the "Gee--so many artists are releasing country albums right now" was a ruse or obfuscation, a face-saving measure--which is fair.