Honeymoon is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. It was released on September 18, 2015, by Polydor Records and Interscope Records, and was produced by Del Rey alongside longtime collaborators Rick Nowels and Kieron Menzies. The album marked a departure from the more guitar-driven instrumentation of Del Rey's previous album Ultraviolence and a return to the baroque pop of Born to Die and Paradise. Lyrically, the album touches on themes of tortured romance, resentment, lust, escapism, and violence.
Upon release, Honeymoon received positive reviews from music critics, appearing on the 2015 best albums lists of many publications. At the time of its release, several critics considered the album Del Rey's best album to date. The album was a global success, topping the charts in Australia, Greece, and Ireland and reaching the top five in over twenty countries, including the United States, where it debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 116,000 units in first week. The album was supported by the release of two singles: "High by the Beach", and "Music to Watch Boys To".
Background and recording
Del Rey finished the recording of her third studio album, Ultraviolence, in March 2014, and by June of the same year she had begun working on a follow-up idea stating that the process was "growing into something I really like. I'm kind of enjoying sinking into this more noirish feel for this one. It's been good". In a December 2014 interview with Galore Magazine, Del Rey revealed she had begun working on a new album. In January 2015, Lana Del Rey announced via Billboard that she had begun work on her fourth studio album, announcing she was going to release an album entitled Honeymoon sometime that same year. During the time of the announcement, Del Rey also said that she had written and recorded nine songs that could possibly be featured on the album and stated that she was covering Nina Simone's "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood". During the interview with Billboard, Del Rey stated that the album would be different from her previous release, Ultraviolence (2014), but similar to her first major release, Born to Die (2012), and the extended play Paradise (2012).
During the album's recording process it was reported that producer Mark Ronson had collaborated with Del Rey for Honeymoon, but their writing sessions did not produce any material for the album. In December 2014, Del Rey stated to Grazia magazine that she wanted to introduce orchestrations with monumental choruses with a touch of subdued grunge for the album, during the recording sessions she played ten songs to Mark Ronson and stated that the album would be exploring a sound close to the golden age of jazz. Besides working with Ronson, Del Rey also worked with Dan Heath and Rick Nowels, with the pair Del Rey began writing small pieces for independent films continuing to state that "Dan Heath and Rick Nowels are two of my dearest friends and producers and we are always up to something". Heath would eventually not feature on the album; however, Rick Nowels went on to co-produce and co-write each song with Del Rey. In January 2015, Del Rey confirmed the song "Music to Watch Boys To" which was initially intended to be the title for the whole album, she also revealed that she wrote it in a visual, noirish way saying "the title (of the song) lends itself to a visual of shadows of men passing by, this girl's eyes, her face. I can definitely see things". The same month, Del Rey stated she was aiming to record a few more songs to tie the project together. "High by the Beach" was recorded as one of the last tracks for the album. Its development started with its chorus, which was inspired by a period when Lana Del Rey frequently drove by the beach.
