12 years ago, a 20-year-old Lana Del Rey picked up a guitar, learned four chords, and headed into the studio. Back then, she was going by the name May Jailer. Under this name, she recorded two EPs, Young Like Me and From the End, then an LP called Sirens. None of the albums ever received an official release, but that certainly didn’t mean Lana — sorry May — was going to give up. In 2007, she recorded a demo tape titled No Kung Fu in a bid to find a producer for her first studio album. She succeeded, landing David Kahne, a producer who’d previously worked with the Strokes and New Order. By then, she’d changed her musical moniker to Lizzy Grant (closer to her birth name, Elizabeth Grant) and had landed a record deal — but not the one that would make her famous.
Together, David and Lana recorded the 2008 EP Kill Kill, andher sort-of-self-titled 2010 LP Lana Del Ray A.K.A. Lizzy Grant(she later switched to the alternate spelling Del Rey). The latterpicked up some local press; a Huffington Post piece lauded her sound as “decidedly anti-genre,” which still feels true today. The next year she signed with Interscope and Polydor, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Altogether, nearly 200 Lana songs that were never officially released have surfaced online, from the May Jailer tapes to loose cuts from sessions with producers that never made it anywhere. In fact, her catalogue of ‘unofficial’ material is bigger than her official library. For those who think Lana’s a one-trick pony, the stylistic diversity of her back catalogue proves otherwise — from experiments in hip-hop like “St Tropez” and “Live or Die,” to EDM-influenced songs “Ride Or Die.” No matter what moniker they were recorded under, no matter the genre, these tracks feel true to the Lana we know. She’s always had this vision in her: now, she gets to realize it on the world stage.
Like she told Pitchfork in 2011, “I’ve been singing in Brooklyn since I was 17 and no one in the industry cared at all. I haven’t changed a thing since then and yet things seem to be turning around for me.” Last week, Lana shared the album artwork for her fifth major record, Lust for Life.She’s got plenty more to give — but let’s turn our ear to what she’s already given.
“Bird of a Feather,” 2005
Back in the May Jailer days, Lana sang about most of the same things she does today — addiction, love, and heartbreak — but hadn’t yet started writing lyrics thick with mentions of sunsets, Hollywood streets, and the Chateau Marmont. “Birds of a Feather” is the closing track of Sirens, notable for the pronounced use of Cher “Believe” style auto-tune, something Lana never really played with again. But writing love songs, dedications to people who changed her life? That’s something she’s made a career of.
“Jimmy Gnecco,” 2007
This ode to the American musician (and rumored Lana ex) of the same name was part of the 2007 demo tape No Kung Fu. It’s a beautiful — and rare — uptempo showcase for her breathy, soaring highs. These days, Lana tends to favor slower, downtempo ballads, but she handles the quick syncopation of “Jimmy Gnecco”with ease.
“Get Drunk,” 2007
Another No Kung Fu cut, “Get Drunk” sees Lana play the role of the vengeful woman, not the lovesick ride-or-die kind critics tend to peg her as. Like most of the songs on No Kung Fu, “Get Drunk” sits in Lana’s natural range, not the higher register she used on much of Born to Die. It makes the line “How do you like me now?” hit that little bit harder. Isn’t it nice to hear Lana get mean?
“Yayo,” 2007
Lana released a number of different versions of “Yayo” over four records, but our favorite iteration might be this intimate live performance, showcasing her voice at its best (a must-watch for those who think her vocals don’t stand up live). It’s quavering, emotional, and even a little country — not unlike Twiggy, during her career as a country singer. Maybe hers isn’t the biggest voice, but it’s one of the most emotive.
“Disco,” 2007
“Disco” is one of Lana’s most divine and mature unreleased tracks, offering us another vision of what her legacy could’ve looked like if she’d stuck with her guitar. The Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy-esque song cements at Lana’s potential as folk star — instead, she decided to go and become the world’s most oblique pop star.
“Kill Kill,” 2007
Sneaking “Kill Kill” onto this list is sort cheating, because it was the lead track of Lana Del Ray A.K.A. Lizzy Grant, her first studio album. But it’s too strange and wonderful to go without mention. There’s that eery, threatening opening, that gives away to a more tropical, tiki flavor. How very Lana to span multiple genres in the one song.
“Put Me In A Movie,” 2007
In typical Lana fashion, there are a couple versions of this song out there. One is the acoustic No Kung Fu take; another, with much fuller instrumentation, is found on Lana Del Ray A.K.A. Lizzy Grant. It’s a good example of the cross-referencing she tends to do across her songs: “Lights, Camera, Action” is also lyric in “Heavy Hitter,” and “High By the Beach,” among others.
“Heavy Hitter,” 2009
Lana spent much of 2009 bouncing between studios in New York, trying to nail down her signature sound with different producers. Lyrically, “Heavy Hitter” — a collaboration with hip hop producer Blockhead — is classic Lana. While Blockhead wasn’t happy with the end result, he did respect Lana as an artist. After the SNL debacle, he wrote a lengthy blog post in her defense: “To be clear, all the detractors saying she’s some made up by the machine pop star are full of shit. While it’s impossible to keep the businesses hands out the pop when creating a pop star, the roots of where this all comes from are firmly inside of Lizzy Grant.” And sifting through this mountain of older material, it’s impossible not to agree.
“Maha Maha,” 2009
New York producer Princess Superstar says the pair worked on the track in 2009. While “Maha Maha” isn’t a classic unreleased Lana track, it does showcase her versatility. Instead of drawing on typical dark, noir-ish jazz sounds, the rather uncharacteristic Lana tune is built around a Bollywood sample, which works to great effect.
“Kinda Outta Luck,” 2010
Lana released this loose track on her YouTube channel around the same time as”Video Games,” complete with a homemade music video. It picked up some traction during the time, but “Video Games” proved the runaway hit, leaving “Kinda Outta Luck” without the shine it deserves. It sounds a lot like the April March hit “Chick Habit” — funnily enough,another tale of a daddy meeting a nasty end.
“You Can Be The Boss,” 2010
Just like “Kinda Outta Luck,” “You Can Be The Boss” was one of the handful of songs Lana debuted on YouTube in 2010, before she shot into the stratosphere the following year. Rumor has it the track almost made it onto Born to Die, which makes sense. The song sees Lana latch on to all the themes that made the album so divisive: that lush, if sometimes vapid, Americana. It’s a tune she’s still fond of, playing it live during her Endless Summer Tour.
Credits
Photography Chuck Grant via Wikia