New Music: Lana Del Rabies – Annihilate

With a tour of the American West Coast only days away, Lana Del Rabies issues an unnerving invitation with Annihilate.

It’s industrial, but far from the current, easily accessible trends in pop or techno that are often corralled within that genre’s nebulous boundaries. Annihilate sees the Portland-based artist find her equals back in the origins of the genre. It keeps to an almost conventional melody, but its building blocks are evocative of Throbbing Gristle and Monte Cazazza at their most gothic.  

Graced with an equally gothic surface that is as clean and opaque as polished ebony, and vocals that could easily be from some ancient funeral ritual, a lot of tension and discord bubble up menacingly, kept just below that serene production. There is drama in the anticipation of where the song will take you, and if it will let you return, meaning losing the self is a constant and thrilling risk.  

Annihilate is out now via Feral Crone Recordings to download on Bandcamp and is streaming on Spotify and Apple Music. Lana Del Rabies is working on her fourth album, set for release in 2027. Keep in the loop with that, and get details for those live dates by heading to Instagram or Facebook.  

Header photo by harper king