Album Review: Lana Del Rey – Lust For Life
2 min read
Sad core, mysterious and vintage beauty, Lana Del Rey, returns with her fourth album, Lust For Life. This highly anticipated album features the likes of The Weeknd, A$AP Rocky, Playboi Carti, Stevie Nicks and Sean Ono Lennon (who has an eerily familiar vocal tone to that of his father).
Lana Del Rey delivers a striking vocal performance in a way only she can. Her melodies seem almost ad libbed, gently floating over the music- a blend of electronica, cinematic soundscapes and warm natural acoustic tones. Although her lyrics and melodies seem like surreal musings, they are weighted by the truth they hold.
By now I’m sure you’ve heard that Lana Del Rey will not be using the American flag in her live show visuals because of the dissonance she (and we all) feel with ‘he who shall not be named’ in the number one position in the USA. This gives Lust For Life a new spin, giving a sense of America in mourning. Lana Del Rey gives off a hazy, laid back, west coast, tragic Americana vibe. She is the anti-dote, the poignant potion, to artists like Katy Perry singing California Gurls and Miley Cyrus singing Malibu. She’s from another paradigm, giving her take from behind the mirror as she reflects on her native land in 13 Beaches, White Mustang, Summer Bummer and God Bless America. In When The World Was At War We Kept Dancing she blatantly questions, “Is it the end of America?” She delves deep into the pain of America in Heroin, forcing it to take the first step towards recovery, forcing it to recognize and acknowledge that there is something terribly awry.
This collection of art music, Lust For Life by Lana Del Rey, is an important one for its clear purpose, not to entertain or distract, but to bring to light what’s beneath the surface.
