“Blue Jeans” might just be my favorite track off of Lana Del Rey‘s debut album, Born To Die so I’m beyond ecstatic to see it get it’s own official single release. Released in the UK on April 8th through Interscope Records, “Blue Jeans” serves as the album’s third single, backed my remixes from Gesaffelstein, Odd Future and Blood Orange with remixes on the way from RAC, D/R/U/G/S and Kris Menace.
Produced by Emile Haynie and co-written by Haynie, Lana Del Rey and Dan Heath, “Blue Jeans” was originally released as a double A-side with her debut single “Video Games” back in October when it became my OBSESSION. The song was preceded by the release of a self-made music video, uploaded onto Del Rey’s YouTube page on September 9th which at this point has over 11 million views.
While the single hasn’t been released officially in the States, Lana Del Rey did perform the song as part of her two song set during her much maligned U.S. television debut on Saturday Night Live. A new “Blue Jeans” video was shot for the single release, directed by Yoann Lemoine, who directed the stunning video for Del Rey’s second single, “Born To Die.” The video, which premiered March 19th, also features the same inked up, hipster model (Bradley Soileau) who appeared in the “Born To Die” video (that’s his hand around her neck in the gorgeously shot yet controversial artwork seen ABOVE). The video is, just like it’s predecessor, is an epically cinematic affair with a couple of wild animals thrown in for good measure. Replacing the tigers from “Born To Die” we have Del Rey swimming in a pool with a couple of alligators. No big deal!
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| Photo Credit: Nicole Nodland |
A video has been shot by Lemoine for the “Blue Jeans” B-Side, “Carmen,” a song Del Rey co-wrote with Justin Parker and produced by Emile Haynie and Jeff Bhasker. Via Facebook, Del Rey announced that the “Carmen” video would be the “final video in my trilogy with Yoann,” which is interesting. it’s unclear whether or not “Carmen” will be an official single or not but the promise of another music video sounds amazing to me. I’ll take all the Lana I can get!
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| Photo Credit: Nicole Nodland |
When Born To Die was released on January 30th, it went straight to the top of the album charts in Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland and the UK, peaking at #2 in the U.S. and Netherlands and #3 in Canada. While the album did well on the charts, Del Rey’s singles have not seen the same amount of across the board, international success. “Video Games,” the most successful single release to date went straight to the top in Germany, hit the top five in Austria, Netherlands, and Switzerland and was a top ten hit in Ireland and the UK. Over in North America, the single peaked at a disappointing #72 on Canada’s album chart and an even more disappointing #91 on Billboard‘s Hot 100. Follow up single “Born To Die” was a top ten hit in both Austria and the UK but failed to echo the same success of it’s predecessor in the rest of the world. You win some, you lose some.
Lana can next be heard on “Ridin‘”, a track by The KickDrums and featuring Del Rey and American rapper A$AP Rocky, which you can sample HERE. Download Born To Die on U.S. iTunes HERE. You can also pick up a couple of the “Blue Jeans” remixes on Beatport HERE.
Check out Lana Del Rey on the web: