Lana Del Rey has gifted fans with a mid-week surprise: Stove will be accompanied by a “beautiful, secondary album,” each representing different parts of her journey over the last four years.
In a lengthy Instagram post, Del Rey shared that “so much time” was spent “waiting for things to come together and so much time wondering if it was ok that things were falling apart.” Meanwhile, “in between the songs came new thoughts about old friends and new dreams and from the doubt of whether the tree I had been planting would grow- came new sprouts and so grew a new rose bush underneath the willow.” That rose bush became her “large companion album,” which was “compiled by as many people as I could find to help me gather my thoughts about how much was changing.”
Del Rey said that while Stove is “so lovely and intact as it was intended to be-a classic album,” the secondary project revealed itself as time passed. The singer-songwriter shared that the LP is a “commentary of sorts on everything that has been going on, and the patience that was required- and the trust I had to have that not all the things that weren’t working was just because of me.”
She thanked her collaborators on the album and said that it took a month to complete, before sending both albums to vinyl. She called the two albums “my most beautiful pieces of work.” Comparing life to the unexpected flow of a river, she added, “it’s really not your choice and it’s truly an adventure of its own,” adding, “I wrote about it. Now it’s time to trust the process and go downstream.”
Del Rey quipped: “I’m so grateful to everyone who’s still on board with me. And of course, I wish the best to everyone who stayed on land. Of course I understand. Just kidding. I thought we were in the boat together.”
The artist has long been teasing and pushing back the release date to her follow-up to 2023’s Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. Her long-awaited album was originally titled Lasso, then The Right Person Will Stay before, and finally Stove (for now).
To satiate fans in the meantime, Del Rey accompanied her most recent announcement with photos of artwork for two vinyl records — one featuring a portrait of herself framed by flowers titled “Stove” and another of a boat that appears to be named “Spyda,” which may or may not be the companion album’s title. She also peppered in clips of fireworks and 4th of July celebrations, a snapshot of those Ralph Lauren boots she hunted down after spotting them in Milan earlier this year, and a video of Del Rey dancing with her cat while sporting a Chanel purse. It’s all very cryptic, nostalgic, and Lana.
