In January 2012, Lana Del Rey performed on Saturday Night Live in a set so criticized that many have called it one of the worst SNL performances of all time. Meant to build steam for the release of her debut album, Born to Die, the set instead led her to cancel any further television slots and postpone her tour. Last night, nine years later, the singer re-debuted on American television on Jimmy Fallon’s show, performing the newest single, “Let Me Love You Like a Woman,†from her forthcoming album, Chemtrails Over the Country Club. Shot in a moody barroom, Del Rey wears dark locks and a leather outfit and is backed by a full band, with the Grammy nominee and Oscar winner Táta Vega, Melodye Perry, and Kenna Ramsey as backup singers. Del Rey makes plenty of eye contact and smiles at the camera and is more empowered in her voice and body language than the last time we saw her on TV, when she looked nervous and sang offbeat, flat songs with her arms rarely leaving her sides.
No further details about the new album have been announced since its delay, but we know Del Rey has teamed up with Jack Antonoff again, who produced her previous album, Norman Fucking Rockwell! The singer also released a book of poems earlier this year titled Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass, for which Antonoff wrote accompanying music.