Lana Del Rey – Born To Die (Album Review)

Lana Del Rey – Born To Die (Album Review)

I am pleased to say I began enjoying the music of Lana Del Rey before all the hype sprung up about her background, her funding and her lifestyle, thanks to BBC Radio 2 and their early playing of first single ‘Video Games’. So, it would be natural, that the first album of 2012 I’d buy would be Lana Del Rey’s ‘Born To Die’, a 12-track LP that, thankfully, does live up to the headlines and column inches posted about her.

Starting with the title track it reminds me firstly of Timbaland’s production from when he enjoyed his golden period and before he became his own cliché. Built around a simple but distinctive beat and strings, with some great use of backing shouts and exclamations, it’s a great template for the album. A slow song, but one whose lyrics are great to listen to thanks to their emotive story-telling and work so well with the music, very much a 2012 ‘All Good Things (Come To An End)’. The gradual progression into the chorus is something to behold and the overall emotion of the song easily hits you.

‘Off To The Races’ starts with a pseudo-live start and is a little bit off-putting, but soon develops into another great slice of pop, this time much faster than her previous singles. Throw in a fast, catchy chorus that follows a singable bridge and Del Rey’s vocal changes from deep, to higher, to squeaky voiced American darling and you have a potential single here.

‘Blue Jeans’ doesn’t have the most exciting verses ever but the chorus is up there with the previous tracks and though not one of my favourites on the album it’s still not a skipable track. ‘Video Games’ that follows, the single that launched her, is a slow ballad built around a great orchestral backing and Del Rey’s trademark deeper vocals, and though the chorus is pretty much just an extension of the verses it’s a track that builds throughout its five minutes with a slowly appearing military drum beat before tailing away, surely a metaphor for the relationship it talks about. Again, great storytelling, with a memorable chorus.

‘Diet Mountain Dew’, a quick-starting track, and a relative faster paced track on the album that boasts a great drum beat that propels the song along. Next track ‘National Anthem’ is another potential single, that celebrates its take of America on its sleeve, with fireworks, more Timbaland-esque beats and a rap-style verse delivery. The dual-layered chorus is another memorable addition to her catalogue of hooks thanks to its main part and the additional section as it tails away, and the song finishes with a catchy section that cements this as the high pinnacle half-way through the album.

‘Dark Paradise’ returns to the pace of ‘Video Games’ but with more traditional vocals but the usual thumbs-up chorus we expect from Del Rey, another track that builds up to something great to hear as the backing choral effect gradually appears over its running time. ‘Radio’, the first explicit song on the album, is an ethereal airy track that, as expected, has another catchy chorus and some overtly sexual innuendo, but not quite matching the sexuality of previous tracks even with its more obvious sign-posting. Another track with single potential and one that acknowledges fan reactions to her commercial success.

As we enter the final third of the album ‘Carmen’ is a weaker link in the album that, though enjoyable to listen to, doesn’t stand out like the previous eight tracks though the string work is great. ‘Million Dollar Man’ wears its retro-sounds on its sleeves and, again, is not one of the better tracks though the ‘one for the show’ mentioning chorus pushes it up alongside its Shirley Bassey-sounds. Again, the song builds to a crescendo at the end.

Thankfully the final two tracks of the album compensate for the previous two. ‘Summertime Sadness’ is built again around another snare drum pattern and sad, emotional chorus that helps evoke the images set up in the lyrics. Album closer ‘This Is What Makes Us Girls’ is a excellent end to the record, throwing in all the elements so far demonstrated on the album from the building of musical elements to a catchy chorus to the varied production effects, delivered in Del Rey’s unique vocal style.

Overall, ‘Born To Die’ by Lana Del Rey is an instant recommendation from me. With production that echoes the golden period of Timbaland with elements that compliment the songs and highlight the well-written and performed lyrics, twelve choruses that, without exception, stick in your head, and a great mix of subjects and a delivery by Del Rey that is refreshing, there is little I can find to fault the album. Yes, at times it’s a little maudlin, but it does enjoy it’s happier, up-tempo, and cheekier moments but with songs as well written, performed and produced as these you can’t really complain.

Easily one of the strongest albums I’ve heard in a long time since Marina and the Diamond’s ‘The Family Jewels’.

(9/10)