Lana Del Rey – Born To Die
The tired-before-it-began Lana Del Rey backlash seems to have sprung from the fact that Del Rey was initially positioned as an indie singer – a Blasko or an Apple, if you will. Trouble is, the songbird is a fully fledged popstar with no indie pretensions, hence the outraged backlash.
Ignore the haters: Born To Die is one of the best albums you’ll hear this year. From the stirring, (melo)dramatic strings of the title track to the oddly affecting tale of teenage rebellion that is album closer This Is What Makes Us Girls, it’s a thrilling noir-pop journey. Breakthrough single Video Games remains Del Rey’s best song, but we won’t hold that against her – it is, as it happens, perfect, and several other tracks here come close to scaling those same heights.
Elsewhere, Radio is, appropriately, De Rey at her most radio-friendly, while the stunning Dark Paradise (penned with erstwhile Belinda Carlisle collaborator Rick Nowels) mixes ‘80s power pop with Massive Attack-style trip hop. And in the driving, heartbreaking Summertime Sadness, Del Rey hones her emotionally bruised Lolita shtick to a tee. Pop at its finest.
