West Coast

“West Coast” is the psychedelic / soft-rock track from Lana Del Rey’s 2014 album “Ultraviolence”.

Written by Del Rey and Rick Nowels, and tells the tale of a woman torn between love and ambition, and also as a tribute to California. British newspaper The Sun wrote about the Del Rey’s track, and the artist spoke to the publication about her inspiration: “That track is inspired by being here (California). I just started spending the more and more time here. After touring I would be back in California, which is really unusual because I’d be in New York is so long. Being in Los Angeles is where I felt like the record was starting off. It was west coast-driven. Though it actually enhanced my love of New York as well, which was good because I was trying to get that loving feeling back for New York. I was there for ten years and every time I go back I have this nervous felling. Being in Los Angeles calmed me down when I was making the record, I felt really good about bringing this east coast flavour into this West Coast sound, having this little amalgamation.” Another British newspaper – The Guardian – also spoke to Del Rey about the Ultraviolence album, with Del Rey emphasizing that she wanted “West Coast” to have a slow shifting tempo as it reflected her mental state while writing, and was not happy with the demo of the track, until she met Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys band and wanted to incorporate his looser production techniques. “West Coast” has also been named to be ones of the best songs of 2014, stated by NME, Spin and Consequence of Sound media publications.

The music video was released on the 7th May 2014 and was directed by Vincent Haycock and shot in Marina del Rey in California. It is shot in black and white shows Del Rey torn between two love interests (one is played by Hollywood tattoo artist Mark Mahoney), the other shown to be older and sat with Del Rey driving her around. The video was well received by critics and fans alike. As of October 2019, the video has over 115 million views and over 602 thousand likes.

Release Date: 14th April 2014

Songwriter/s: Lana Del Rey & Rick Nowels

Producer: Dan Auerbach

Label/s: Interscope Records & Polydor Records

Music Video Release Date: 7th May 2014

Music Video Director: Vincent Haycock

Chart Rankings & Certifications: “West Coast” did extremely well in its first year of release, charting worldwide but failing to land a #1 spot. “West Coast” charted at #44 in Australia, #4 and #47 in Belgium, #26 in Canada, #39 in Denmark, #21 in Finland, #34 in France, #22 in Germany, #3 in Greece, #13 in Hungary, #31 in Ireland, #18 in Italy, #31 in New Zealand, #18 in Scotland, #89 in Slovakia, #12 in Spain, #13 in Switzerland, #21 in the UK, and #3, #17, #26 and #29 on various US Billboard charts. “West Coast” is certified Silver in the UK.