Ann Powers’ review of Lana Del Rey‘s latest album, Norman F****** Rockwell, rubbed the pop singer the wrong way.
Powers, a music critic for NPR, posted a tweet of her latest, in-depth “deep dive” review of Del Rey’s new album. In the review, she exhaustively examines the Norman F****** Rockwell and while she is critical at times, the review is centered around praise for Del Rey’s new record. Still, the singer seemed to take umbrage with two specific points.
“Here’s a little sidenote on your piece – I don’t even relate to one observation you made about the music.” Del Rey replied on Twitter, “There’s nothing uncooked about me. To write about me is nothing like it is to be with me. Never had a persona. Never needed one. Never will.”
She continued her reply in a separate tweet “So don’t call yourself a fan like you did in the article and don’t count your editor one either – I may never never have made bold political or cultural statements before- because my gift is the warmth I live my life with and the self reflection I share generously.”
In the first tweet, the “Venice Bitch” singer is referring to a passage in Powers’ review where she compares her to Joni Mitchell to illustrate how Del Rey’s lyrics come off as “uncooked”. She also touches on a passage where Powers’ describes “Del Rey’s persona as a bad girl to whom bad things are done.”
It seems Lana was incensed by a few passages but the review is highly nuanced and incredibly deep. A lot of what Powers said was positive and showed a deep understanding and affection for Del Rey’s work.
Lana Del Rey’s fans responded with fury on social media and defended the singer but Powers refused to back down.
In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, she said “It is a critic’s responsibility to be thoughtful and honest to herself in responding to artists’ work, and an artist’s prerogative to disagree with that response,” Powers said. “I respect Lana Del Rey and hope that her music continues to receive the passionate appreciation it has received for years.”
Ann Powers Said the Album was one of “Del Rey’s most artfully constructed narratives”
Despite Del Rey focusing on some of the more negative aspects of the review, Powers had just as many if not more positive things to say about the NFR album and Lana Del Rey as an artist.
Take the “persona’ section for instance. Powers begins the paragraph with “The power of NFR! emanates from another source: her compulsion to collapse logic, to violate boundaries musically, through imagery and within her storytelling” before saying “This is not only about Del Rey’s persona as a bad girl to whom bad things are done; her supposed confessions would be nothing more than reality-show fodder if not for the way she and her collaborators construct them.”
Powers is referring to how the lyrics on their own would be underwhelming but Del Rey’s emotion and performance combined with the song structure bring them to life. It could be viewed as backhanded praise but it’s praise nonetheless.
Speaking on Del Rey’s lyrics, Powers writes “She repeats herself. She veers into cliché. Her touchstones fall into each other across time. Many people have called NFR! a 1970s throwback, but its songs barely dip into that era’s experimental sounds, instead touching down in the baroque-pop 1960s, the cyborg 1980s and the G-Funk 1990s without distinguishing between its reference points.” This may be the section that sparked Del Rey’s fury.
The other most biting criticism has to do with what Powers thinks is a lack of substance in Del Rey’s songwriting. She critiques the song “Cinnamon Girl”, writing that “There’s a line about different colored pills, alluding to her sweetheart’s addiction, and one about her frustration becoming like fire. B-plus poetics. There’s some moaning about how no one has “held me without hurting me,” and half-formed thoughts about words she cannot speak.”
She then compares the lyrics to Joni Mitchell’s “Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire,” and writes “Mitchell’s lyric reads as poetic and incisive. Next to it, Del Rey’s feels uncooked.”
Sure, Powers is brutally honest in her criticism but she’s also fair. At one point she calls the album one of “Del Rey’s most artfully constructed narratives, extending the arc of apparent self-realization also evident in widely framed narratives that stood out on her previous album.”
She also wrote Del Rey’s music “At its best, her music absorbs and disorients. It calls for interpretation, but in the most personal sense of the word – it wants to be crazily loved or angrily hated. It wants to trigger you.”
The review is worth reading in it’s entirety. Pulling some quotes out of context make it seem particularly harsh or incisive but put into context the words come off as much less critical.
Ann Powers is a Decorated Music Critic
Ann Powers is one of the most experienced, respected music critics and pop culture journalists around. She’s been writing about music and pop culture since 1986 when she started her career writing for the San Francisco Weekly.
Powers is no stranger to backlash as she’s faced much worse during her time as editor of The Village Voice, pop critic at The New York Times, and chief pop critic at the Los Angeles Times.
She knows how to criticize famous artists fairly and has never been one to hold back. She also has a history of championing female artists and writing extensively about feminism in music and pop culture. In the new age of artist worship and social media, her biting, honest takes are not appreciated as they once were.
She’s also published several celebrated books including Good Booty: Love and Sex, Black and White, Body and Soul in American Music where she examines how popular music shapes fundamental American ideas and beliefs. It was selected by The Wall Street Journal, NPR, No Depression, and Buzzfeed as one of the “best books of 2017”.
The Review Created a Divide in Social Media
The album review and Lana Del Rey’s subsequent response riled up music fans on social media. It also broke the responses into two camps: Lana Del Rey fans and music critics. The discourse between the two groups was mostly uncouth and unkind.
Unsurprisingly, the Del Rey fans were not pleased with the review.
Almost all of the tweets are filled with comments from one side or the other either defending Lana, criticizing Powers’ writing, or flat out trading insults.
Ann Powers had just as many defenders as Lana did, with many users appreciating her incredibly deep review and responding to the Lana fans. Especially journalist Jessica Hopper who wrote a lengthy thread calling Powers “our greatest working pop critic, who raised up entire generations of music writers/readers/fans to Take Women’s Art Seriously”
“It’s not remarkable that great artists can be so thin-skinned,” she continued on Twitter, “but Ann’s review wasn’t a drive-by, but what is remarkable is artists that identify with/ally themselves w/ the voiceless and then INSIST that journalists only speak, only report if it’s flattering, bully them if not.”
A lot of people were unsure of what all the fuss was about. Music critics are entitled to their opinions just as much as music artists and many users pointed out the obvious which is: if you don’t like the review, simply move on. And if you enjoy Lana’s music, keep on doing that.
In the end, both sides became entrenched as they usually do during feuds like this on Twitter. Lana has not commented further on the NPR review following the attention it received.
Powers posted a video of her dog on Twitter following the firestorm and wrote “Hey my kind friends, I really appreciate all the support today. I still think NFR is a deeply compelling, crucial album and hope everyone spends time listening to it (and goes back to Ultraviolence and Lust For Life too). Taking a few days off here to take Frankie on a long walk”
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