TEMPORARY Chemtrails Over the Country Club - Pre-Release Thread: OUT March 19th, 2021

[FallingCherry 7,731]

Spoiler

The way she sings « cause it made me feel, made me feel like a god. It kinda makes me feel maybe I was better off » at the end of WD keeps playing in my head... This song really is a career highlight, and her best opener imo 

 

[BluebirdXO 7,677]

1 hour ago, electra said:

okay so i never do song or album breakdowns basically ever but the opinions on this album are so polarising i have decided to throw my two cents in. i've listened to the album twice and i'm going to listen to the album again while writing this. i personally think this is her best album and considered NFR her best album before this.

 

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overview

back to front this is a beautiful album experience. one of the most satisfying first listens of an album i have ever heard. i love the fact we had nothing other than two songs and honestly if i had heard nothing this would have been even more satisfying. it's an extremely cohesive selection of songs (even yosemite) with beautiful builds, catchy choruses and is very experimental at times - both vocally from lana and production-wise from jack. this is by far her most abstract and experimental album with some of her most interesting and thought-provoking lyrics. overall, i've always enjoyed her lyrics where she's directly telling the listener specific stories - her songwriting abilities often blossom then - and this album is a very good example of that.

 

@wraith made a fantastic point when we were listening together that the overall flow of the album is similar to madonna's confessions on a dancefloor - where there's lots of slow builds, tension rises and releases, all of which are in very good and interesting timings. both jack and lana seemed to have a fantastic understanding of how to let the instrumentation speak and tell stories around her narratives. i don't know if this has been much commented, but the overall builds and changes in sound are very similar to some of the backing instrumentals in Violet, which could often be very chaotic but also very restrained depending on the shift of tone lana was looking for.

 

i'm really impressed by how lana and jack handled the instrumentals. the album is similar to NFR, but the sound is warmer and also feels more live surprisingly. it is very easy to imagine lana and her band performing one live take of the songs in a studio.

 

white dress

a beautiful opening track. there are times where her vocals literally do not even sound like her. her dreamy highs in the jazzy tone of her voice when she hits that chorus is a wall of emotion. her voice is so delicate here - you literally trust every gasp and whisper in her voice. when the percussion quietly comes in during the second verse it gives her voice the perfect amount of support to allow her to come down from the high. and as it hits that second chorus and the music swells - that's the moment you know this is her magnum opus. i'm so glad she challenged herself vocally from track one. and it doesn't even stop there - just when you think the song is fading that instrumental comes back and blossoms. it's really notable here that despite the notable changes in the instrumentals volumes it never drowns her out. i think that was very smart of jack. she is always at the centrepiece of this song. the true definition of a performance. when she repeats "it makes me feel like a god", the quietness and delicateness of her voice has a beautiful contrast to the statement.

 

chemtrails over the country club

a beautiful title track, but wbk. beautiful and catchy and you will be singing this to yourself for weeks. beautiful example of the instrumentation builds in this album. the chaos of the last minute and a half of this song or so its wonderful. you can hear the warmth and safety in her voice - a beautiful, dreamy single with such interesting uses of sounds in the build. another beautiful element of this album is the rhythms of the percussion really help elevate some of the songs which is really true of chemtrails. the long outro of the drum here is beautiful and adds to this dreamy idea of her singing this song and performing forever and eternally.

 

tulsa jesus freak

i honestly thought i was going to dislike this but fuck me. when people mentioned auto-tune i thought what? but damn, this is probably some of the most beautiful use of auto-tune i've ever heard in my life. surprisingly delicate and when used as backing vocal it really supports her lead vocals so well. the get free-esque "white hot forever!" i could listen to forever. you can imagine the way she's effortlessly swaying and she sings this.

 

when she says "can we go back to the ranch baby?" damn. she sounds so delicate and fragile here. when she says "baby" you can almost here a refrain in her voice as if she sounds scared. lots of beautiful lines here - "can i make you laugh with a smile?", "you know when you chose me i was nothing but ordinary", "find your way back to my bed again" - all of which are made a million times more impactful simply by her delicate vocal delivery. the moments of spoken word in this are a lovely surprise as well. this is definitely going to be a grower, which is fantastic considering its already a great song from listen #1.

 

let me love you like a woman

i will never understand why she released this as a single, but it supports the album exceptionally well. the lyrics are wonderful and again it has a beautiful release. her vocals support themselves very well in the layering of the chorus here. probably one of the songs where her vocals sound the strongest (in a literal sense - the harmonies are very assertive and supportive). completely works in the context of the album.

 

wild at heart

starting every song on this album was like "god is this gonna be the flop?" but it just never happens. it kind of starts with an energy similar to love song, and then that chorus comes in. "i left calabasas!" - damn, so fun and free sounding. she really made the song sound like its title-sake. the change here is an amazing shift and really just adds something so beautiful. the sample from how to disappear is perfect. it's almost better in the context of this song. nothing has ever made me love a country sound more. @wraith made the really good point that the sound of this album is almost some kind of strange lana-del-rey-esque nu-country (he affectionally referred to it as "country 2").

 

don't fucking get me started in the choir harmonies. she fucking snapped so hard. it just makes me wants to tilt my head back in bliss and close my eyes and absorb every inch of her vocal.

 

dark but just a game

the start of some of the more 90s vibes of the album. we commented that its very similar to some of the earlier eels' albums and this is where i really fucking encourage people who love this song specifically to please, for the love of god, listen to either beautiful freak or electro-shock blues (the albums) by eels. the shifts between the verses with the percussion and the very majestic and magical choruses is a fantastic representation of that sound. i would find it hard to believe neither jack nor lana were inspired by that specific sound.

 

 

 

the shifts between the hip-hop-esque beats and the jazzy sound really hark back to that experimental 90s sound - and the layering of some of the strings really contributes to that. i definitely think lana sound do more of an alternative 90s rock sound in the future because she really pulls it off.

 

not all those who wander are lost

oh this is just lovely. again, the use of the random male vocal sample is really fun but i feel like it will be lost of some people. it really helps build the live sound of the album and again. lots of fun and again comes back to that 90s eels sound with the use of random sampling that helps create an interesting texture on the album and really brings a beautiful cohesion. this is probably the weakest song on the album for me...but i mean she's a 10/10 on an album of 11's. i love and appreciate this song so much. by this point in the album you should have hopefully realised this is a fantastic and timeless body of work from lana - this will shape the rest of her career.

 

yosemite

a really beautiful and surprisingly cohesive song. the bongos are so soft and subtle. the guitar loop is lovely. i can see how this could be a lust for life song but damn it really fits in the context of the album. another one of my least favourites but again it's like choosing between diamonds. i'm sure one day this will hit me. the focus on this track appears to be more on the lyrics and there's less focus on changes in the instrumentals, and i think that creates a lovely break from the rest of the tracks. and fuck yeah more spoken word! come on ms poet.

 

breaking up slowly

fuck all y'all, this is a great song. i have the chorus stuck in my head all the time now. has such a classic and timeless sound and all of the vocalists on this album are super complimentary. it's always great having some variations of voice tone and texture in albums. on the non-feature songs, lana pushed herself to be very vocally experimental and textured, which allows her to be more less so on this duet. these features are considerably less jarring than on lust for life and very complimentary of one another. lana's voice supports nikki very, very well. a lovely and dreamy guitar song, so classic and folk-y.

 

dance till we die

fucking gag. the chorus of this is so fucking catchy and the horns in this support the song so beautifully. the lyrics are so descriptive and reflective and fun. the build in this song is exceptional, and the bridge...

 

when she said "so we made a pack in the middle of the night..." it gives me goosebumps. the rise and crescendo here is brilliant.

 

for free

a lovely closer. probably her best album closer cover. like breaking up slowly, their voices really complimented one another. a lovely closer to the album. everyone's voices feel so real and trustworthy. when they come up in those highs it just sends shivers. it's so well produced and warm. weyes' really supports lana and zella so well, i love her tone of voice. my only wish is that the outro was maybe a bit more extended on jack's part but honestly it can be really refreshing to hear a little bit of restraint in jack's production.

 

tl:dr; her magnum opus. a great range of sounds and sonic visualisation. if you didn't like this and didn't like nfr i really just don't know what to tell you. that's on you. i would encourage people to listen to the band eels' if they enjoyed this album and sound, or maybe if you didn't so you can understand alternative music in this style a little bit more. i think this will be her best critically received album and i'm really interested to see how critics perceive this album from the stand-point of what they will consider it's genre, sound and inspiration but also how their going to rate it. i think this is potentially her first album that may receive a grammy if they nominate her in the right categories.

 

for once, i'm really looking forward to reading the reviews and consensus on this album. i have a feeling this will be her highest metacritic score too. the level of galaxy brain in the production of this album is insanity. i'm really looking forward to the release.

 

come on fantano just give it a fucking nine we know you want to.

OMG! I love Eels! Can't wait to listen to all the songs on the 19th

[Flowerbomb 65,555]

Spoiler

Okay so don't get me wrong - this album is GREAT. I feel like I'm vibing with it more than I did with NFR quite honestly, however I feel like there's too many fillers (For Free, BUS, LMLYLAW and maaaaybe Dance Till We Die??). Take away COCC (bc we've already heard it) and there's basically only 6 songs left where I feel like it's very much cohesive and 'solid'? Obviously it's just me but ugh I'm hoping LDR8 will have 14-16 tracks next time

 

[gasstationkween 5,422]

I would love a tropico-sequel with these songs 

[Lentilus 25,412]

omg just realized we passed the NFR pre release thread   by a lot too! And there was a goal to get to 4000 on there. Let's get to work gays and gals.

[KingJay 2,981]

Spoiler

Ya'll know an album is amazing when you can't wait to wake up just so you can listen to it all over again 

 

[GeminiLanaFan 45,798]

28 minutes ago, benririchardson said:

ugh I just wish she would rush release on friday because that is what Dua did when this happened to her (and she shares a manager with Lana) and it worked well for her. also if she released on friday she would get the #1 on the billboard 200 which she won't be getting if she releases on the 19th. 

Not a good idea. The physical copies would count on week 2 only, while the first week of streaming would count on week 1. And we know she sells a lot of physical copies. Dua doesn’t seem to sell as much CDs and vinyls as Lana. 

1 minute ago, Lentilus said:

omg just realized we passed the NFR pre release thread   by a lot too!

Now that’s a chocker. I never thought we could do that.

[rightofjupiter 15,889]

4 minutes ago, KingJay said:

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Ya'll know an album is amazing when you can't wait to wake up just so you can listen to it all over again 

 

it was the first thing I did when I woke up today! 

[DLT 7,481]

6 minutes ago, KingJay said:

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Ya'll know an album is amazing when you can't wait to wake up just so you can listen to it all over again 

 

 

1 minute ago, rightofjupiter said:

it was the first thing I did when I woke up today! 

Same lol!

[Araby 676]

23 minutes ago, Theo said:

Dark but just a game

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Do we have any idea who is the song about? I have the impression that the line "no rose left on the vines" may be some clue. And the recurring  "whatever"s, but this is probably too generic to help. And I assume this person is a man,  because I think that in the beginning she doesn't mean Jack but that guy (that's what he would say to me).

 

EDIT: OK, maybe "he" is Jack, since later "I was a pretty little thing" sounds more like something that a woman would say. But not sure.  

 

Spoiler

To me, it's about living as an artist (especially an artist who is grappling with their rising popularity). I think she has a lot of anxieties about ending up like women of music's past who died too soon. She has a lot of reverence for people like Amy and Whitney. Obvs not a new concept for her, and it's all across this album ("I don't wanna end up like Tammy Wynette", White Dress as a whole). That's why that "I'm gonna stay the same" lyric hits so hard, she's resolving to continue her work without letting anything drag her down

 

[VeniceBiatch 1,703]

Spoiler

BUS has been stuck in my head all day omfg

 

[Blackestday x CN 5,001]

Spoiler

Here is my ranking:

 

1.Yosemite/White Dress

2. TJF

3. Wild at heart

4. Dark but just a game

5. COCC

6. Not all who wander are lost

7. Dance till we die

8. LMLYLAW

9. BUS

10. For Free

 

[Crys10 2,470]

Spoiler

Does anyone else think DBJAG can be the next Bond song or in some movie soundtrack? 

 

[KingJay 2,981]

4 minutes ago, DLT said:

 

Same lol!

 

6 minutes ago, rightofjupiter said:

it was the first thing I did when I woke up today! 

I just couldn't resist lol. I was going to try to give it a few days. but nope lol.

[Flowerbomb 65,555]

The holy trinity:

 

Spoiler

Yosemite

Tulsa Jesus Freak

Not All Who Wander Are Lost

 

[Lustformoney 40,375]

2 minutes ago, blackestday89 said:

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Here is my ranking:

 

1.Yosemite/White Dress

2. TJF

3. Wild at heart

4. Dark but just a game

5. COCC

6. Not all who wander are lost

7. Dance till we die

8. LMLYLAW

9. BUS

10. For Free

 

omg what do u think about the album in general? I know the two of us are the main jack haters

[Lustformoney 40,375]

47 minutes ago, hlxon said:

If you haven't listened to the album I wouldn't recommend reading what's in the spoiler tag, because I'm talking about like the biggest surprise there is on the album (at least to me)

 

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But for those who listened, what are your thoughts on Dance Til We Die?? I mean I guess I kinda like it, but I absolutely love the bridge where everything switches up, definitely the best bridge on the album, but I wish the song would have kept that energy until the end and do a last chorus different and way more energetic, I feel like the fact that the song goes back to normal after the bridge is kinda jarring and cuts off the energy of the song and actually keeps the song from standing out on the album. I would love to hear your thoughts on that song

 

Spoiler

i collapsed when the bridge started never expected this sound from Lana, its crazy

 

[rabbit 4,933]

9 Days 

 

In the single digits now, COTCC virgins :,) Time will fly by, can’t wait to join in on the discussions and track-by-track reviews 

[Vertimus 8,921]

Spoiler

 

Question: is the Spoiler button how you 'hide contents' here? Thanks. 

 

Ah, I see that it is. Thanks. 

[KingJay 2,981]

Spoiler

"Time after time, I think about leaving, but you know that I never do just because you keep me believing" I loveeee that part on Wild At Heart. The way she sings it, it's so heartbreaking to me idk why.