Released as the lead single from Ultraviolence on April 14, 2014, "West Coast" received widespread acclaim from music critics who commended its unconventional composition and Del Rey's uncharacteristic vocal delivery.

[6] In November 2013,[7] Del Rey traveled to Electric Lady Studios in New York City,[8] which she occupied for five weeks alone,[9] and produced the track by herself from a guitar before later hiring session drummer Maximilian Weissenfeldt,[10] while Nowels would come by "every now and then".

[13] She then met Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys by chance at Electric Lady Studios and then again on a night out in Queens, New York,[14] and realized she needed to re-record the track to incorporate his looser production techniques.

[12] That night Del Rey explained to Auerbach her interest to develop a song containing jazz undertones, "West Coast fusion" influenced by The Beach Boys and the Eagles, and a 1970s Laurel Canyon-type revival.

[13] Subsequently, Del Rey traveled to Nashville, Tennessee to re-record "West Coast" and tracks from its parent album with Auerbach in a 3-week session at his studio,[14] Easy Eye Sound.

In an interview with The Guardian, Del Rey explained that she felt "murky" with her life during the song's writing, and it was that feeling which influenced it to sound disconnected from mainstream pop.

[29] The track's slower second section opens with a descending blues riff reminiscent of The Beatles' "And I Love Her" (1964),[20] in which the production switches between a half-mumbled baritone and layered choral symphony, among neo-noir motif.

[28] Comparing the track's lyrical content to that of Sonic Youth's "Superstar" (1994), Grantland's Molly Lambert analyzed: "While Born to Die–era Lana often displayed a preening 'please notice me, Mr.

[41] The heavily yellow artwork, which makes use of an Instagram filter camera lens,[42] features Del Rey donning soft makeup while standing on a Californian coastline afront crashing waves.

[28] Oyster journalist Jerico Mandybur commented, "there's no denying that the song has excellent aural pulling power, especially if you like your odes to LA mysterious, darkly surfy and dripping in femme fatale".

[60] Carolyn Menyes of the Music Times named "West Coast" as one of her favorite Del Rey songs to-date, highlighting Auerbach's influence as what benefited it most.

[61] While Kitty Empire of the same publication wrote, "The engaging West Coast improves on every hearing, a clever two-in-one track rich with detail, rhythm, atmospherics and class".

[24] Drowned in Sound's Robert Leedham said that with "West Coast", Del Rey developed a song to "trump" "Video Games" (2011), and a "new found guttural swagger".

[63] Caryn Ganz of Rolling Stone called the track a "striking departure" in sound for Del Rey, and said its groove transformed her "from chanteuse into frontwoman for a few glorious moments".

[64] In a review of Ultraviolence, Mike Diver of Clash said that in the context of the album, "West Coast" took on greater significance by serving as a fulcrum which balances the record into "leaving a better impression than it otherwise might".

[65] Consequence of Sound's Sasha Geffen described the song as "a counterintuitive gem" and "the sort of thing that rings beautifully from old car windows on hot summer evenings,"[66] while Marissa G. Muller of Vice called the track "one of the Golden State's best-ever anthems".

[96] The accompanying music video for "West Coast" was directed by Vincent Haycock,[60] and shot at Marina del Rey, California and in Venice, Los Angeles,[97] in early April 2014.

[39] The audio release of "West Coast" on April 14, 2014, was accompanied by a looped, black-and-white snippet from the music video of the singer embracing a leather jacket-clad man at the beach.

The footage featured the same shots obtained for the audio loop, and Del Rey smoking and lighting a cigarette,[99] Sunset Strip billboards and incomplete couplets.

[102] The black-and-white music video was noted to have predominantly dark, brooding,[98] hazy, mysterious and sun-stroked imagery, and portrays Del Rey evoking her distinguished personality.

[59] In the first, Del Rey is shown clinging to a younger, long-haired blond, leather-clad man on a beach,[40] where she narcotically flits around the Pacific Ocean shorefront,[25] and splashes in its waves with him.

[59] At the 1:20 mark, the song and its visuals simultaneously switch up,[107] with the singer being pictured donning diamond jewelry,[59] sitting alongside a more mature and svengali-type man who wears sunglasses, as a chauffeured convertible barrels forward in slow motion.

[53] A plot twist then occurs towards the clip's ending with the use of fire and technicolored imagery,[100] where Del Rey gently brushes her hair off her shoulders in the middle of superimposed flames.

[35] Darwin who opined that the clip recalled Del Rey's short film Tropico (2013), deemed it "a total cinematic gem,"[58] and "a gorgeous mashup of retro glamour and modern independence".

[26] Matthew Bramlett of TheWrap opined that Del Rey "perfectly encapsulates her 'vintage California rich kid' look" in the video and described the clip as "very chic, with just a twinge of the old Hollywood flair" the singer had embraced in her previous visuals.

[33] In a mixed review, Patrick D. McDermott of The Fader called the visual "classic, kind of sad [Del Rey] in romantic black and white", but felt it was confusing and "on-brand...a meticulous homage to nothing in particular".

[117] Lipshutz commented, "Del Rey's Coachella performance was so strong that [she] would have been forgiven if 'West Coast' proved to be a dud, but thankfully, the new single sounded like a winner when played live for the first time".

According to Jim Louvau of the Phoenix New Times, Del Rey's rendition received a "great reception,"[120] while Ed Masley of The Arizona Republic called it "a sultry majesty".

[15] Del Rey's performance of the track at a date at the House of Blues in Boston on May 6, 2014, was viewed by Reed as "loose, freewheeling sensuality as sun-kissed as the California lifestyle [the song] evokes".

[125] Del Rey performed "West Coast" wearing kohl-smudged eye makeup, a tie-dye sundress and hoop earrings, as part of her debut set list for the Glastonbury Festival 2014 on June 28.