Lana Del Rey announces new album due later this year

Lana Del Rey has used an essay-length Instagram post to reveal the release date for her next album. The post also name checks several female pop stars who’ve found success singing about being sexy and wearing no clothes.

It looks like Lana Del Rey’s seventh album will be arriving just 12 months after last year’s critically adored Norman Fucking Rockwell! The announcement of its September 5 release came at the end of a meaty Instagram post from Lana, which discusses her desire to sing about whatever she wants without “being crucified or [accused of] glamorising abuse.”

The post begins with the heading “Question for the culture” and quickly raises the stakes. Lana points out that “Doja Cat, Ariana, Camila, Cardi B, Kehlani and Nicki Minaj and Beyonce,” have all reached number one “with songs about being sexy, wearing no clothes, fucking, cheating etc.”

It initially seems like Del Rey is throwing shade at the aforementioned artists. However, it becomes clear that she’s using their success as an example of women’s growing artistic liberty.

“With all of the topics women are finally allowed to explore I just want to say over the last ten years I think it’s pathetic that my minor lyrical exploration detailing my sometimes submissive or passive roles in my relationships has often made people say I’ve set women back hundreds of years,” she writes.

Norman Fucking Rockwell! had its share of detractors, but it was also the album that certified Lana as a Serious Artist. For example, Pitchfork awarded the album 9.4/10, writing that it “establishes her as one of America’s greatest living songwriters.” NFR! also topped Metacritic‘s Music Critic Top 10 List, which tallied the albums most frequently mentioned in music publications’ year-end lists.

But Del Rey still feels misunderstood. She says she’ll be detailing her feelings in her next two books of poetry, which will be published by Simon and Schuster. “And I’m sure there will be tinges of what I’ve been pondering in my new album that comes out September 5th.” No official details are currently available, but a follow-up Instagram post featured NFR! producer and co-writer Jack Antonoff.