The latest we’ve learned about ‘Stove’, Lana Del Rey’s eighth album, was both its cover and the playful teaser of ‘White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter’. For the moment, nothing else is known. We’ll have to make do with the latest duet by Zach Bryan and Lana, which could very well have been written for that album.
The piano and string arrangements that adorn the intro of ‘Lies’ could easily belong entirely to Lana’s universe, before Bryan takes on the first verse. Unconditional love, with just the right touch of tragic romance, is the main theme of the song, which directly references Fleetwood Mac’s classic in its chorus: “Tell me your lies, baby, your sweet little lies,” they both sing.
On her part, the singer leans into her poetic melancholy to stay within the song’s theme, asking the other person to keep telling lies: “Tell me you’ll always be here forever / That you’ve been with others, but that you prefer me.”
‘Lies’ is a country ballad in the usual sense, with a beautiful melody, but it’s by no means a surprise beyond Lana’s presence. Although it has evolved over the months, initially ‘Stove’ (formerly known as ‘Lasso’) was going to be an exclusively country album, but if anything, ‘Tough’ made clear that this can be a very broad definition. Certainly, ‘Lies’ resembles more of a modern country track than anything we’ve heard from the anticipated LP.
