The Right Person Will Stay - Pre-Release Thread (OUT: May 21st, 2025)

[NikoGo 61,303]

2 hours ago, ivory almond said:

are we sure? I thought she just sent the voice memos to drew for him to put an orchestra under and then did proper vocals

during her W magazine interview she said “I’ll just sing whatever comes to mind into my Voice Notes app. It’s not perfect, obviously. There are pauses, and I stumble. But I’ve been sending those really raw-sounding files to a composer, Drew Erickson, and he’ll add an orchestra beneath the words, matching each syllable with music and adding reverb to my voice.”

 

so I’d take that to mean she fingertips is a literal voice memo 

 

manifesting none of that on TRPWS

[Queen of the Rodeo 138]

3 hours ago, Vertimus said:

I agree completely about NFR!. 

I think it's partly because Lana doesn't really have a powerhouse voice a la Whitney Houston, Linda Ronstadt, or Aretha Franklin. She's more in the Debbie Harry - Stevie  Nicks category (if you've ever seen either in concert, then you know they have very little actual vocal range)—she needs the studio to sound really good in the varied notes—look at Video Games--it has very few high notes and is fairly monotone throughout, which is part of its charm.  I sometimes find vocal straining charming, but I don't on Grandfather. 

Her various producers probably have to do a lot of studio dickering, and we know from the video she posted on Facebook during the making of Lust for Life how she was experimenting with singing with a piece of paper between herself and the mic (I believe it was on BPBP). Lord knows what other similar hacks she's used to enhance her vocals—I'm assuming singing with the paper between her and the mic was her idea, but who knows? It may have been Rick's. 

 

Though it's not one of my favorite of her songs, to me, vocally, Lana sounds best on Money, Power, Glory, especially in the refrain. That's my own personal standard or how I'd like to hear her vocals. Clear, immediate, crisp. 

I agree too.

I also think though she sings the chorus of Shades of Cool quite unclearly, it’s still one of her best vocal performances on a song and for me and the older I get, I love the song even more. I’ve loved this song since I was 15 and now I’m almost 26! I once listened to an interview she did in the LFL era, where the interviewer said he’d never heard her sing so powerfully before (in reference to When The World Was At War…) and all I could think was that the shades of cool vocals were 100x better. 
 

I have thought that maybe Lana has developed some vocal damage over the years because her voice doesn’t have the depth it used to. I do think she consciously chooses to sing softer nowadays, but even her live performances have been weaker compared to her earlier years. 

[barttttender 5,139]

52 minutes ago, Queen of the Rodeo said:

I agree too.

I also think though she sings the chorus of Shades of Cool quite unclearly, it’s still one of her best vocal performances on a song and for me and the older I get, I love the song even more. I’ve loved this song since I was 15 and now I’m almost 26! I once listened to an interview she did in the LFL era, where the interviewer said he’d never heard her sing so powerfully before (in reference to When The World Was At War…) and all I could think was that the shades of cool vocals were 100x better. 
 

I have thought that maybe Lana has developed some vocal damage over the years because her voice doesn’t have the depth it used to. I do think she consciously chooses to sing softer nowadays, but even her live performances have been weaker compared to her earlier years. 

 

I mean, vaping and smoking like a chimney certainly doesn't help lmao.

 

But I anyway, singing amazingly is not all that important in pop music. Just look at Madonna. It's more about the tone, melody, phrasing, and conjuring the right atmosphere, which Lana is a master of. 
 

I don't think she's wowed me with her vocal proficiency per se since that high note on NFR (the song). But I don't care for that kind of stuff anyway (otherwise, I would listen to Mariah Carrey.)

 

The only issue i have is perhaps that Lana doesn't sound as confident perhaps as she did back on BTD and Paradise. She'd open a song with a razor-sharp line like "My pussy tastes like pepsi cola", and it had so much sass and personality.

 

Now it's all becoming a lot softer and demure. Which I still love. But I kinda wish she would mix it up a little vocally and lyrically. Especially with her album openers, which are feeling more and more samey (sad ballads).

 

I guess I miss her confidence and sense of fun on the last few records?
 

I think the super harsh criticism of her early work has scared the bejeezus out of her and she's playing it more safe, with tones and lyrics she know work well and won't get her dragged through dirt.

[taco truck 33,309]

8 hours ago, Cherry Blossom said:

Idk if I’m just an awful music listener but I am not so particular that mixing, clarity and mastering can make or break a project for me  

The only time it’s ever been bad enough to hurt my impression of a project is blue banisters as whole and kinstugi, fingertips, and fishtail (I get fishtail was intentional but I cannot stand it 😭)

[Queen of the Rodeo 138]

33 minutes ago, barttttender said:

 

I mean, vaping and smoking like a chimney certainly doesn't help lmao.

 

But I anyway, singing amazingly is not all that important in pop music. Just look at Madonna. It's more about the tone, melody, phrasing, and conjuring the right atmosphere, which Lana is a master of. 
 

I don't think she's wowed me with her vocal proficiency per se since that high note on NFR (the song). But I don't care for that kind of stuff anyway (otherwise, I would listen to Mariah Carrey.)

 

The only issue i have is perhaps that Lana doesn't sound as confident perhaps as she did back on BTD and Paradise. She'd open a song with a razor-sharp line like "My pussy tastes like pepsi cola", and it had so much sass and personality.

 

Now it's all becoming a lot softer and demure. Which I still love. But I kinda wish she would mix it up a little vocally and lyrically. Especially with her album openers, which are feeling more and more samey (sad ballads).

 

I guess I miss her confidence and sense of fun on the last few records?
 

I think the super harsh criticism of her early work has scared the bejeezus out of her and she's playing it more safe, with tones and lyrics she know work well and won't get her dragged through dirt.

Yup definitely, I guess she quit smoking but with the amount she vapes I doubt it’s doing her any favours. Plus does she even do vocal

warm ups/scales? They help preserve the voice.

 

But yes I agree,  I feel like years of bullying from the media has had an impact on her output. It’s a shame, BTD & Ultraviolence, to me, actually felt more authentic and less like she is romanticising her life (which I have no problem with at all, but her later albums at least until OB, felt more aesthetic driven than concept driven). I think the quality of her music is sadly declining, maybe she doesn’t have the same fire and tenacity for music that used to have. I’m not sure. 
 

This being said, I’ve never not enjoyed a Lana album. I always find pieces in each album that I treasure. I’m sure this will be same going forward too. 

[barttttender 5,139]

9 minutes ago, Queen of the Rodeo said:

Yup definitely, I guess she quit smoking but with the amount she vapes I doubt it’s doing her any favours. Plus does she even do vocal

warm ups/scales? They help preserve the voice.

 

But yes I agree,  I feel like years of bullying from the media has had an impact on her output. It’s a shame, BTD & Ultraviolence, to me, actually felt more authentic and less like she is romanticising her life (which I have no problem with at all, but her later albums at least until OB, felt more aesthetic driven than concept driven). I think the quality of her music is sadly declining, maybe she doesn’t have the same fire and tenacity for music that used to have. I’m not sure. 
 

This being said, I’ve never not enjoyed a Lana album. I always find pieces in each album that I treasure. I’m sure this will be same going forward too. 

 

Glad we agree on some of these points. I don't think her music is declining per se. It's just different. In some ways it's evolving. Venice Bitch is a massive leap forward, as is most of NFR and some of OB. She's also aging and clearly has a different concepts in mind.

 

But again, some of her confidence is definitely damaged in the process, and I miss some of that "wtf, can't believe she just did that, quen" momentum. Part of me believes The Right Person will be even softer than Chemtrails or OB. But let's see.

[americangothic 1,719]

7 hours ago, Embach said:

Tbh I don't like the mixing in Drew Erickson songs, it took me three listens to understand what did she sing in If You Lie Down With Me. I find NFR to have a better mixing but I'm not worried about The Right Person because Henry seems to be very crystal clear

yeah, no shade to Drew, I like him, but he's more of an instrumentalist than a producer. A master of strings and piano virtuoso, for sure. But his songs are better when he works with other people.

 

His solo production on 'Beautiful', 'Violets for Roses' and 'Fingertips' makes the songs kind of uneventful.

 

I remember literally falling asleep to his 2 back to back "Blue Banisters" tracks on the tracklist, thank God "Dealer" always woke me up, lol.

[barttttender 5,139]

27 minutes ago, americangothic said:

yeah, no shade to Drew, I like him, but he's more of an instrumentalist than a producer. A master of strings and piano virtuoso, for sure. But his songs are better when he works with other people.

 

His solo production on 'Beautiful', 'Violets for Roses' and 'Fingertips' makes the songs kind of uneventful.

 

I remember literally falling asleep to his 2 back to back "Blue Banisters" tracks on the tracklist, thank God "Dealer" always woke me up, lol.

 

"His solo production on 'Beautiful', 'Violets for Roses' and 'Fingertips' makes the songs kind of uneventful."

 

Periodt.

[Vertimus 9,641]

1 hour ago, Queen of the Rodeo said:

Yup definitely, I guess she quit smoking but with the amount she vapes I doubt it’s doing her any favours. Plus does she even do vocal

warm ups/scales? They help preserve the voice.

 

But yes I agree,  I feel like years of bullying from the media has had an impact on her output. It’s a shame, BTD & Ultraviolence, to me, actually felt more authentic and less like she is romanticising her life (which I have no problem with at all, but her later albums at least until OB, felt more aesthetic driven than concept driven). I think the quality of her music is sadly declining, maybe she doesn’t have the same fire and tenacity for music that used to have. I’m not sure. 
 

This being said, I’ve never not enjoyed a Lana album. I always find pieces in each album that I treasure. I’m sure this will be same going forward too. 

She used to remain at a remove in her songwriting as in her album titles, but lately she's seemingly wanted to go the late 60s, early 70s singer-songwriter route, very confessional, very personal, very attached at the hip, and to me, for the most part, it's less interesting, or at least I feel she's done enough of it for my taste, though of course she's free to do whatever she likes.

The reason I liked a great deal of LFL was because it was dramatic and removed, like 13 Beaches or Heroin; even White Mustang keeps a distance from itself. 

 

Songs like Love Song and How to Disappear don't do a thing for me, nor Life is Beautiful—because we can get those kinds of mellow songs from any number of middle-of-the-road artists, female or male, and Sweet Carolina falls into that category too.

 

For such songs to work, at least for me, they have to be truly exceptional or genuinely touching, and those are not for me. 

 

 If she's going to do that sort of work, I prefer Hollywood Bowl and the collab she did, Suburban House, more than half of NFR! and almost all of OB. 

[Terrence Loves Me 72,859]

Can she just get in a studio for this album and stop trying to be quirky and down to earth with these voice memo recordings we're tired

[Olympia 4,430]

I'm so happy that in Lana I've found an artist I can appreciate any music she came and comes up with. Regarding the other artists I follow, I am like many people in their last posts here, so very critical, no matter if it's about voice, song interpretation, cohesiveness of the album, style...

But for Lana, I can find fresh, innovative, genius like, super creative and inspiring elements in all her albums and always love how she uses her voice, no matter if it's on BTD or OB. I especially love how different every album is and that she dares to do things many wouldn't dare to (like putting voice memos on a proper album record) - it never gets boring to follow her and with every listening I discover something new in her music. But that's also because of my perspective on her as a creative genius, that I can appreciate her projects this way. Sometimes it takes a moment to understand what makes the work special, but sooner or later I'll find it always, because I'm looking for it, knowing it's there. That's something I miss from most artists. 

 

Just wanted to share this thought, maybe some might rediscover something in her creative work, just to enjoy it more again and look forward to the next project without too much fear. :-) 

[Make me your Dream Life 88,393]

People in the future’ll be like this Lana Del Rey woman must’ve been a legend back then, and here we are in this part of time enjoy her celebrity in real time