Blue Banisters

by Lana Del Rey

Overview

If Lana Del Rey's 2021 album Chemtrails Over the Country Club felt like the atmospheric post-script to her 2019 master statement Norman Fucking Rockwell!, Blue Banisters comes off like the addendum to the post-script. Released just seventh months after its predecessor, Blue Banisters isn't too far removed from the midtempo, woozy tones that defined that album. The 15 tracks here span about an hour running time, and generally stick to the familiar framework of sad-hearted torch songs for a burning world that Lana has built her entire discography on. Closely inspecting the songwriting, production, performance, and sequencing choice on Blue Banisters, however, reveals some moments of quiet evolution. Moody, dramatic ballads like "Violets for Roses," "Living Legend," and "Arcadia" are the kind of soft excursions into melancholy that have become synonymous with Lana Del Rey, all free of percussion and centered around opulent piano chords and distant, emotionally exhausted lyrical perspectives. "Wildflower Wildfire" sounds like it could be a toned-down outtake from the NFR! sessions, and the ghostly ambience that floats in and out of the title track recalls some of the hushed turbulence that flowed throughout 2014's Ultraviolence. Throughout the album, however, Del Rey folds subtle moments of strangeness and experimentation in among her more established approaches. Four tracks into the album "The Trio (Interlude)" shows up out of nowhere, shaking us out of the dreamworld created by the first few songs with an aggressive trap beat built around an Ennio Morricone sample. It's an overtly jarring moment, but on the following track, "Black Bathing Suit," Del Rey adds a more subtle kind of weirdness into her standard sad pop, dropping samples of cawing crows into the mix, switching the beat on the choruses to include distorted, stumbling drums, and ending the song with layers of yelping, dissonant howls. Much like Fiona Apple channeled Yoko Ono's explosive vocalizations at certain points on Fetch the Bolt Cutters, songs like "Black Bathing Suit" and "Dealer" (a mostly smooth duet with Miles Kane) find Lana integrating primal, Ono-esque screaming with her more polished vocals. The vocal performances and production feel a little less polished than previous albums. Closer "Sweet Carolina" has an almost shocking intimacy to it, with upfront, imperfect vocals that sound more like a quickly recorded voice memo intended to capture an idea as it happens rather than a labored-over studio production. This unfussy vocal adds to the dream-like quality of the instrumental and makes it one of the album's sweetest moments. Much of Blue Banisters has this kind of casual, first-take energy, and functions more like a mixtape than an album as Del Rey cultivates a sustained atmosphere, but still makes room to try out new ideas and inject some unexpected moves into her established sound. ~ Fred Thomas

Product Details

Release Date:	11/12/2021
Label:	Interscope / Polydor
UPC:	0602438590148

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Lana Del Rey   Primary Artist,Vocals,Melodica
Drew Erickson   Conductor,Keyboards,Mellotron,Moog Bass,Prophet 5,Synthesizer,Fender Rhodes,Bass,Drums,Organ,Piano,Moog Synthesizer
Gabe Simon   Percussion,Sound Effects,Synthesizer Bass,Guitar (Acoustic),Vocals (Background),Bass,Organ,Piano,Guitar,Keyboards
Wynton Grant   Violin
Darren Weiss   Percussion,Drums
Griffin Goldsmith   Drums
Benji Lysaght   Guitar (Electric)
Blake Cooper   Tuba
Evan Weiss   Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Cian Riordan   Synthesizer Bass
Andrew Bulbrook   Violin
Melodye Perry   Vocals (Background)
Daniel Fornero   Trumpet
Dean Reid   Guitar (Acoustic)
Miles Kane   Vocals
Daniel Rosenboom   Trumpet
Zach Dellinger   Viola
Robert Grant Jr.   Piano
Tyler Parkford   Keyboards
Zachary Dawes   Bass,Piano,Keyboards,Synthesizer Bass
Loren Humphrey   Drums,Percussion
Barrie-James O'Neill   Piano,Guitar
Tata Vega   Vocals (Background)
Greg Leisz   Pedal Steel,Guitar (Baritone)
Wayne Bergeron   Trumpet
Rick Nowels   Piano
Lisa Stone   Vocals (Background)
Owen Pallett   Viola,Violin
Mike Dean   Keyboards
Jacob Braun   Cello

Technical Credits

Drew Erickson   Composer,Producer,Mixing,Arranger,Drum Programming,Horn Arrangements,String Arrangements
Gabe Simon   Drum Programming,Mixing,Composer,Engineer,Producer
Chantry Johnson   Producer,Additional Production
Sean Solymar   Composer,Engineer,Mixing Assistant
Brian Rajaratnam   Assistant Engineer
Sage Skolfield   Composer,Engineer,Mixing Assistant
Alex Tomkins   Assistant Engineer
Mai Leisz   Engineer
Alana Champion   Composer
Caroline Grant   Composer
Cian Riordan   Mixing
Mike Dean   Mastering,Mastering Engineer,Mixing,Composer,Producer
Kieron Menzies   Engineer,Producer,Additional Production
Adam Ayan   Mastering,Mastering Engineer
Ennio Morricone   Composer
Ben Fletcher   Assistant Engineer
Dean Reid   Mixing,Engineer,Producer,Drum Programming,Additional Production
Jason Wormer   Mixing
Miles Kane   Composer
Barrie-James O'Neill   Producer,Additional Production,Mixing,Composer
Robert Grant Jr.   Composer
Michael Harris   Mixing,Engineer
Clayton Johnson   Producer,Additional Production
Tyler Parkford   Composer
Zachary Dawes   Composer,Producer
Loren Humphrey   Composer,Engineer,Producer
Lana Del Rey   Mixing,Arranger,Composer,Lyricist,Producer,Horn Arrangements,Vocal Arrangement,Recording Arranger,String Arrangements
Jon Sher   Engineer,Assistant Engineer
John Congleton   Engineer
Rick Nowels   Composer,Producer
Owen Pallett   Arranger,String Arrangements