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Chemtrails over the Country Club

Chemtrails over the Country Club is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. It was released on March 19, 2021, by Interscope and Polydor Records. Del Rey enlisted producer Jack Antonoff as her co-producer for the majority of the album, after working with him on her previous studio album, Norman Fucking Rockwell! (2019), while previous collaborator Rick Nowels produced one of the album's tracks. The album features collaborations with Nikki Lane, Weyes Blood, and Zella Day.

For the song, see Chemtrails over the Country Club (song).

Chemtrails over the Country Club

March 19, 2021 (2021-03-19)

  • 2015–2016
  • 2019–2020

45:28

Chemtrails over the Country Club is described as a folk, country folk, and Americana record. According to Del Rey, the album is about her friends and family. Other themes featured on the album are themes of escapism, love, heartbreak, and nostalgia, while encompassing her usual references to Americana, alongside emotions of disillusionment.


Chemtrails over the Country Club received acclaim from music critics, with many comparing its sound to its predecessor. The album debuted at number one in eight countries, including the United Kingdom, becoming Del Rey's fifth number one album in the country, and reached the top 5 in twenty countries, including the United States, where it peaked at number two on the Billboard 200, becoming Del Rey's sixth consecutive top five album in the country.

Background[edit]

Del Rey first announced the album in an interview with Time on August 30, 2019, the release of her sixth studio album, Norman Fucking Rockwell!.[1][2] Originally titled White Hot Forever, it was slated for a 2020 release, with Del Rey saying that the album would be released "sometime within the next 12 or 13 months".[3] On May 25, 2020, the album's final title was revealed to be Chemtrails over the Country Club, scheduled for a September 5, 2020 release.[4][5] After the release of her debut book, Violet Bent Backwards over the Grass in 2020, Del Rey held a book signing, where she revealed that the album had been postponed due to vinyl record production delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[6] Additionally, she revealed the title of the song "Dealer", revealing that she was uncertain about including it on the album.[7][8] "Dealer" would not be included on Chemtrails over the Country Club, but eventually appeared on its follow-up Blue Banisters (2021).[9]


On August 7, 2020, Del Rey posted a video on Instagram featuring a snippet of the track "Tulsa Jesus Freak", which would later be included on the album.[10][11][12] On September 1, Del Rey posted a video on Instagram of herself on the set of the music video for the album title track, and announced that the album's lead single would be the song "Let Me Love You like a Woman", further stating the album would be released "soon" after.[13]

Music and lyrics[edit]

Chemtrails over the Country Club is described as a folk, country folk, and Americana record.[14][15][16] The majority of the album was co-produced by Del Rey, alongside Jack Antonoff who is also the sole producer of the album's lead single, "Let Me Love You like a Woman".[17][18] The song "Yosemite", which was recorded during the sessions for Del Rey's fifth studio album, Lust For Life (2017), held between 2015 and 2016,[19] was produced by Rick Nowles. The song failed to be included on Lust For Life, because, according to Del Rey, it "was too happy; we're not there yet."


Del Rey stated "so much of the album" pertains to her "stunning girlfriends" and "beautiful siblings".[20][21] She further added that, "In 2021, [Chemtrails over the Country Club] opens a sunnier chapter in [Del Rey's] controversial roman-à-clef, and folk legend Joan Baez advocates her acceptance in the pantheon", adding that the album "appears to reveal a more vulnerable Del Rey" who is "lighter on the LA menace" and "more innocently emotional" than in her previous work.[22][23]


The song "Breaking Up Slowly" features a guest appearance by American singer Nikki Lane, who also co-wrote the song with Del Rey. The album's closes with a cover of Joni Mitchell's "For Free" from her album Ladies of the Canyon (1970).[22] American singers Weyes Blood and Zella Day join Del Rey on the song.

Cover artwork[edit]

On January 10, 2021, a day prior to the release of its title track, Del Rey revealed the album cover and track list of Chemtrails over the Country Club on Twitter and Instagram.[9][24] The cover shows Del Rey with a number of her female friends (who also appear in the title track's music video).[25][26] On January 11, retail chains Target and HMV revealed exclusive editions of the record[27][28] featuring alternate cover art—a portrait photograph by Neil Krug.[29]

Commercial performance[edit]

Chemtrails over the Country Club debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, earning 75,000 album-equivalent units, (including 58,000 copies in pure album sales) in its first week, according to MRC Data, blocked by the top spot by Justin Bieber's Justice[73] becoming Del Rey's seventh US top ten debut on the chart.[73] The album became her third chart-topper on the US Top Album Sales list, scoring the fourth-largest sales week for a vinyl album since MRC Data began tracking sales in 1991, with nearly 32,000 copies sold.[74] In addition, the album accumulated a total of 21.19 million on-demand streams from the album’s songs.[73]


In the United Kingdom, Chemtrails over the Country Club debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, selling 40,000 copies in its first week and outselling the rest of the top 10 combined,[75][76] becoming Del Rey's fifth UK number-one album.[76] The album became the fastest-selling vinyl of the century for a female act in the UK, with 16,700 vinyl copies sold.[76] In its first three days in the United Kingdom, the album sold 30,566 physical copies.[77] In December 2023, the album was certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for earning over 100,000 album-equivalent units in the UK.