"West Coast" is a song by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey from her third studio album, Ultraviolence (2014). Written by Del Rey and Rick Nowels, it is a melancholy love song about a woman torn between love and ambition, and as a dedication to the West Coast of the United States. A psychedelic rock and soft rock ballad, the song was noted to be an evolution and more guitar-orientated in sound for Del Rey and was produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys. Described as a two-in-one song, its shifting tempo transitions downward by nearly 60 beats per minute at the chorus in a rhythmical shift reminiscent of The Beatles' 1965 single "We Can Work It Out", introduced by the guitar lick that begins The Beatles' 1964 single "And I Love Her". In the song, Del Rey's vocals comprises a more sensual and demented tone than in her previous releases, and are often sung in an anxious "breathy" style.
Released as the lead single from Ultraviolence on April 14, 2014, "West Coast" received widespread acclaim from music critics who commended its unconventional composition and Del Rey's uncharacteristic vocal delivery. Several news media sources went on to list it as one of the best songs of 2014, including Consequence of Sound, NME and Spin. "West Coast" debuted at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Del Rey's highest debut and third highest-charting single in the United States, while also being her first single to enter Billboard Rock Airplay chart where it reached number 26. "West Coast" marked Del Rey's eighth Top 40 hit in the United Kingdom where it peaked at number 21 on the UK Singles Chart.
The accompanying black-and-white music video, directed by Vincent Haycock, was released on May 7, 2014. Filmed at Marina del Rey and Venice, California, it uses a minimalist and melancholy approach to depict Del Rey torn between two love interests, one of which is portrayed by Hollywood tattoo artist Mark Mahoney. The music video was well received by critics and was nominated for a 2014 MTV Video Music Award for Best Cinematography. Del Rey promoted "West Coast" with live performances at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Austin City Limits Music Festival and Glastonbury Festival 2014. The song has also been covered by James Vincent McMorrow, Royal Blood, Missio, Kungs and Max Jury.
Background
"West Coast" was written by Del Rey and her frequent collaborator Rick Nowels in California, with Del Rey composing its lyrics and melody, and Nowels its chords. In November 2013, Del Rey traveled to Electric Lady Studios in New York City, which she occupied for five weeks alone, and produced the track by herself from a guitar before later hiring session drummer Maximilian Weissenfeldt, while Nowels would come by "every now and then"."Ich will ich sein Lana Del Rey" (in German), Intro, Germany, June 2014. Together, they produced the initial recording of "West Coast" as a classic rock-inspired song. Del Rey developed the track as a dedication to the West Coast of the United States, but with the intention of it being more psychological, which resulted in the track becoming distant from that of the verse–chorus form. She felt the song's slow, shifting tempo was important because it reflected her mental state during its writing. Del Rey initially completed her third studio album Ultraviolence in December 2013, but at the time was dissatisfied with a demo she had recorded for "West Coast". She then met Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys by chance at Electric Lady Studios and then again on a night out in Queens, New York, and realized she needed to re-record the track to incorporate his looser production techniques. That night Del Rey explained to Auerbach her interest to develop a song containing jazz undertones, "West Coast fusion" influenced by The Beach Boys and the Eagles, and a 1970s Laurel Canyon-type revival.
Subsequently, Del Rey traveled to Nashville, Tennessee to re-record "West Coast" and tracks from its parent album with Auerbach in a 3-week session at his studio, Easy Eye Sound. She invited him to add a more casual, California vibe to the song by recording in single takes, with a blues-like Shure SM58 microphone. According to Auerbach, the recording of "West Coast" was sung "99% live" by Del Rey in a room adjacent to one where a seven-piece band were recording the track's instrumentation. Auerbach produced the song's electric guitar, shaker, 12-string acoustic guitar and synthesizer instrumentation, while Nick Movshon was credited as a bassist and drummer on "West Coast". The track's strings were recorded separately from the main recording at a studio in Glendale, California called The Bridge.
Del Rey opined that the track's demo sounded very different to Auerbach's reproduction. When Del Rey first played "West Coast" to her record label, Interscope Records, they were dissatisfied with its chorus being slower in beats per minute than its verses. They responded to her, stating, "None of these songs are good for radio and now you're slowing them down when they should be speeded up". In an interview with The Guardian, Del Rey explained that she felt "murky" with her life during the song's writing, and it was that feeling which influenced it to sound disconnected from mainstream pop.
Composition
A psychedelic rock and soft rock ballad, "West Coast" also contains elements of reggae, indie rock, Latin rock, 1960s music, 1980s "drive time," and "narcoticized" swing. The track's subversive sound is the result of its comprising jagged instrumentation and laid-back groove, similar to that of the Classics IV's "Spooky" (1967). The opening riff solicits a "wavy" sound reminiscent of The Black Keys' Turn Blue (2014), and is continued throughout the rest of the song. Described as a two-in-one track, its shifting tempo transcends downward during the chorus mark, following into a rhythmical shift reminiscent of The Beatles' "We Can Work It Out" (1965), Being more guitar-orientated than the singer's previous output, it is based around minimal, country-tinged, surf guitar, and "twangy" drum instrumentation. The track's slower second section opens with a descending blues riff reminiscent of The Beatles' "And I Love Her" (1964), in which the production switches between a half-mumbled baritone and layered choral symphony, among neo-noir motif. Its chorus scythes across juddering bass and off-kilter percussion instrumentation. Towards the end of the track's duration, a stray burst of G-funk shrill synth is solicited.
Incorporating an ease to her vocal delivery, Del Rey eased her vocal delivery by crooning the hook "Move baby, move baby / Ooh baby, ooh baby" throughout the chorus shift, in a style that recalls Stevie Nicks' "Edge of Seventeen" (1982). Del Rey uses an inexpressive, ventriloquizing tone in the song, with her voice being layered into the track's production by means of reverberation. In addition, her vocals use a more sensual and sinister tone than in her previous discography, and are often sung in an anxious and "breathy" style, and in an octave just above a whisper. She also sings the track's backing vocals which in part contribute to the song's ethereal feel, through distant, faraway moans. MuuMuse's Bradley Stern observed that Del Rey's voice skipped between "breathy franticness and slurred, drugged-out ecstasy". Throughout the song, she restrains her delivery during its verses, but sings in a sweeping, cinematic style in its chorus.
"West Coast" was noted to be a cross between the works of bands Portishead and Beach House. It was also highlighted that the track deviated from Del Rey's formula in Born to Die and Paradise (2012), as an evolution of their sound, though without doing so in its entirety. Harriet Gibsone of The Guardian described it as "side-stepping slowly from the Twin Peaks melodrama of Born to Die," while Tim Jonze of the same publication said the song "ditched the hip-hop trappings of Born to Die". Its eeriness, omnipresent in previous Del Rey tracks, takes on a full-on psychedelia sound, recalling The Turtles' "You Showed Me" (1969). "West Coast" is set in the simple time signature of , with a moderately fast tempo of 123 beats per minute in its verses, and a slow tempo of 65 beats per minute in its chorus. It is composed in the key of F minor, with Del Rey's vocals spanning the range from F2 to C5. The track has basic a chord progression of Fm-Fm-E-D-Fm-E-D in its first verse, and Bm-D-Fm-Fm-Cm-D-D-E in its chorus.
A melancholy love song, its lyrics depict a woman torn between love and ambition. "West Coast" also serves as a dedication to Del Rey's California hometown, and elicits imagery from its titular location. In the song, she sings about leaving a lover for the Californian promise of fame, and emphasizes on a gulf between a sweetly uncomplicated romance and a boozily dysfunctional relationship. Similarly to her previous works, the lyrics are both specific and vague, and complement the track's "dreamlike" sonics. "West Coast" sets up a disunity between form and content, and though a love song, its sound is more reminiscent to that of a breakup song. It was also noted that the lyrics depict a vivid picture of teenage summer memories and forgotten romance. Comparing the track's lyrical content to that of Sonic Youth's "Superstar" (1994), Grantland's Molly Lambert analyzed: "While Born to Die–era Lana often displayed a preening 'please notice me, Mr. Producer!' energy, the Lana of 'West Coast' sounds like a starlet struggling not to become disaffected with show business after feeling her way through a few too many casting-couch sessions, still hoping that big break might be on the horizon."
Release "West Coast" served as the lead single from Ultraviolence. The song's title was first announced by the singer on April 3, 2014, on Facebook and Twitter. On April 10, 2014, Del Rey posted the track's single art on Twitter with the lyric, "Down on the West Coast, they got a sayin'...", as its caption. The same caption was used in a promotional billboard which was put up in Los Angeles the same day. The heavily yellow artwork, which makes use of an Instagram filter camera lens, features Del Rey donning soft makeup while standing on a Californian coastline afront crashing waves. She has a forlorn facial expression in the cover, and is depicted with a subtle frown with her eyes staring straight into the camera. Del Rey sports a beach-inspired look with a wave-like hair style, denim jacket and white shirt. Some critics speculated that the artwork hinted that the sound of "West Coast" would continue in the laid-back style of Born to Die. "West Coast" was premiered by BBC Radio 1's Fearne Cotton on April 14, 2014, and the track's audio was uploaded to the singer's Vevo page later that day. The song was first solicited to contemporary hit radio in Italy also on April 14, 2014. It was later released as a digital download in Canada and the United States on April 22, 2014, and then in most international territories a day later. However, the digital release of "West Coast" was slated to May 25, 2014 in the United Kingdom, and May 30, 2014 in Germany. The song impacted modern rock radio in the United States on June 3, 2014.
A remix by Dan Heath—who produced Del Rey's "Blue Jeans" (2012)—was premiered by Vice on May 19, 2014. A shorter mix by Auerbach which featured stronger, clearer emphasis on Del Rey's vocals was designated as the radio edit of the song. Auerbach's new version solicited a significantly lighter sound than the original, and incorporates elements of Caribbean and tropical music. Several other remixes were commissioned for the release of "West Coast", including remixes by Alle Farben, Camo & Krooked, Four Tet, Jabberwocky, MK, Solomun, The Young Professionals and Zhu.
Critical reception