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Lana Del Rey Covers 'Madame Figaro' Magazine

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Kommander    3,260

Kommander
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Madame Figaro. - Do you have the feeling that the image is always as important as the music? 
Lana Del Rey. - with the first record, I didn't have the feeling that I interested people musically. The project was dictated thus more by the images. This time, I hope that the public won't focus on appearances. I felt controlled by the blurred perception that people had of me, but I don't feel dependent from it now.

 

Your voice appears to be less fragile, as if you were fighting against elements, in particular against the guitars which Dan Auerbach (singer and guitarist of the Black Keys) raised against you. 
I feel like a warrior. A tired warrior, but a warrior. The difference was that I was singing live, in the same room as the band, and recording everything in a single take. It sounded more natural. We kept numerous imperfections. I worked with the same team, began to produce in Electric Lady Studios, in New York, where I met Dan. Then I went to Nashville during six weeks to restructure the songs.

 

Does the record's name, "Ultraviolence", mean that you were not prepared for the success of the previous album? Are you ready now ?

Being rather a solitary kind of person, I don't feel more prepared, but at least I'm fighting. The last three years were very hard, they changed me. Even writing became difficult to me, because I was too much surrouded. When everything around you works as the same speed as you and bores you, suddenly the energy of a meeting an unknown can be rather powerful to give you back the desire and the idea of a melody. These moments became rare, I don't live that many fantastic experiences. For that, I need to take my old car, drive to the beach, and wait.

 

It seems obvious that you belong to the west coast and to all its myths, with your very cinematographic writting style for example. Is it a source of inspiration? 

Yes, undoubtedly, I see images when I write. Visions of future, colors. And I hope to have numerous facets. There is always a dichotomy in me. Concerning the cinema, Some people already proposed me roles in some independent movies shot in Laurel Canyon, set in the 1960s and 1970, but they weren't released. But acting, playing are natural extensions of my work. I would like to shoot with Darren Aronofsky. Or Hitchcock if he was still alive. My inspiration's also very linked to the history and the energy of Los Angeles, the characters I met, like my tattooer, Mark Mahoney. I like the "early 90s" feeling of the city, which evokes a kind of lost cinematography. Just like the spectacular landscapes of L.A. like Pacific Coast Highway, the shoreline.

 

Your albums abound in very melancholic contrasts. You seem to hide a secret under skin...
I try to remain reasonable and healthy, but, inside, I carry many contradictions. I have peaceful moments and a great deal of torments. It is tempestuous. As I adore the color of the words, I chose "Ultraviolence" as a title for the sound that it creates under the tongue, but also for the juxtaposition of a luxurious tone with the hardness of "violence". It pleases me.

 

When we listened to your album for the first time, we thought of rock, but is it more complex than that? 
I am delighted to hear that, even if the main influence is rock, in its most classic shape, in the style of The Eagles or Bob Seger. In fact, I wonder if it is not the ideal music to drive. (Laughter). There's an undisciplined and wild mood in this record. Besides, some were not very happy to discover that there was also a kind of a jazz tone in "Shades of Cool" (EDITOR'S NOTE : for us, the most beautiful song on the album). According to me, everything comes from the alchemy created between me and Dan Auerbach and the group. When I hear really fat and gritty electric guitars, it reminds me of music festivals, I picture an outside stage.

 

Weren't you afraid that this indie side made the record unsaleable? 
A little bit, yes.
 
And you seem to be proud of it
Yes. (she laughs). I shouldn't, but it means that my work conveys exactly what I wanted to transmit. We took care and polished all the songs so that they really sound like me, to respect my philosophy, which is to compose songs which speak to me at first.
 
So, what could be seen as diva poses is in fact perfectionism. What pleases you so much in the act of creation? 
I care a lot about my songs. When I was in Nashville, I rented a farm and, every day, I sat down for hours and listened to the band : I was in my place. When it's over, I feel empty and I wait for new signs. I've always looked for signs in everything. I think ceaselessly of death, the concept of mortality is a vagueness that is constantly threatening. I find it to be heavy, crushing, really. What is the purpose? And what if there's nothing after? I believe in a power bigger than us, who can guide us and help us to find the answers. But it is difficult to perceive it when you are constantly in movement.
 
Are you happy? 
Not really. It is difficult to be happy, I always feel a kind of malaise, and I'm stuck, always expecting something.I am a little disorientated. When I finish something, I am very annoyed…
 
 
 
I might correct some stuff.
 
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