Album Review: Lana Del Rey – Ultraviolence

Posted on June 14, 2014 by michielvmusic

Lana Del Rey strikes again with outstanding sophomore record

In retrospect, the campaign of Lana Del Rey’s debut album Born To Die was a huge success. She managed to sell around 12 million copies worldwide and singles like the remix of ‘Summertime Sadness’ and The Great Gatsby soundtrack ‘Young & Beautiful’ helped her gain more and more fans. This all made the expectations for the release of her sophomore record Ultraviolence, go through the roof. It is hard to answer the question if this album really lives up to the expectations as it is quite different to Born To Die in quite a lot of aspects. In any way, Lana Del Rey, surprises, stays true to herself and delivers another outstanding record.

Lana Del Rey made her comeback a few months ago when she released the refreshing and brilliant ‘West Coast’, the first single from Ultraviolence. It became apparent that her sound switched to somewhat more of a band sound with less hiphop beats and cinematic strings. The striking but smart tempo changes in the song showed she follows her own path and does not produce songs that sound like immediate hits. This trend continued on Lana’s Nancy Sinatra moment ‘Shades of Cool’, but still everything about them felt like it fitted Lana. We see this trend happening within the whole album. If you expect a Born To Die part two, you might get disappointed. The new record is less poppy, does hardly feature any hiphop beats, the choruses are often not as catchy and infectious as the likes of ‘Blue Jeans’, ‘Radio’ or ‘National Anthem’ and it is all a little less glamorous. The only track that somehow delivers the strings and beats of Born To Die, is the title track ‘Ultraviolence’, that is build up from a lot of hooks. Then what do we get on the new album? An even darker sound, more guitars, a vocally stronger and more confident Del Rey and a whole bunch of different, but still very strong songs.

The album opens with the epic more than 6 minutes long track ‘Cruel World’ and the darker, alternative guitar sound is immediately hearable. The second thing that becomes apparent, is that her lyricism did not change at all. ‘Cruel World’, as well as a lot of the other songs, still deal with the bad guy lover and she once again puts her ‘red party dress’ on in the chorus (although there is no ‘dancing/grinding in the pale moonlight’ involved this time). But who cares if her music repeats itself thematically when it still brings us great melodies like in the chorus and verses of ‘Sad Girl’, packed in a fresh and somewhat more alternative style, that Del Rey seems to wear with a lot more confidence than before.

On the irrestibly strong ‘Fucked My Way Up To The Top’, Del Rey shows off her sassy and playful side as she seems to make fun of all the stories that claimed that she did not rise to success in the music industry in an ‘authentic’ way. We also hear this playfulness in the cheeky ‘Brooklyn Baby’, absolutely one of the highlights of the record. Del Rey has never sounded happier before than in these lyrics about her boyfriend who is in a band, her rare jazz collection and being cooler than her man. Other than this sassiness, she also treats us with enough sadcore, for example in ‘Pretty When You Cry’ and the gorgeous ‘Old Money’, that defenitely has one of the best hooks and most heartbreaking choruses she ever made. The ‘But if you send for me you know I’ll come, and if you call for me you know I’ll run’, are devastatingly beautiful.

It is not only Del Rey who shines on this record, also producer Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys) impresses with incredibly layered productions. The dark and raw sound give the tracks and extra emotional dimension without making the gorgeous melodies drown in too much noise. If I have to be completely honest, I would say that Born To Die had more stand out tracks on it, but Ultraviolence works very well as a cohesive body of work. Del Rey absolutely delivered with reinventing herself sonically but still delivering a quality album with some really impressive songs on it.

Must listens: Brooklyn Baby, Old Money, Sad Girl, Fucked My Way Up To The Top, Ultraviolence (and of course single West Coast).

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Album Recensie: Lana Del Rey – Ultraviolence

Lana Del Rey slaat weer toe met ijzersterk tweede album

Achteraf gezien was de campagne rond het debuutalbum van Lana Del Rey, Born To Die, een doorslaand succes. Ze verkocht maar liefst 12 miljoen exemplaren wereldwijd en hits als de remix van ‘Summertime Sadness’ en The Great Gatsby soundtrack ‘Young & Beautiful’ zorgden ervoor dat haar fanbase zich flink uitbreidde. Hierdoor ontstonden er hoge verwachtingen voor het tweede album van de zangeres, getiteld Ultraviolence. Of ze deze verwachtingen ook bij iedereen zal waarmaken is af te wachten, want de nieuwe plaat is op veel fronten niet te vergelijken met voorganger Born To Die. Hoe je het ook wendt of keert, Del Rey verrast, blijft trouw aan haar eigen visie en levert weer een collectie uitstekende songs af.

Lana Del Rey kwam een paar maanden geleden terug met het verfrissende en briljante ‘West Coast’, de eerste single van de nieuwe plaat. Meteen werd duidelijk dat ze een andere richting in was geslagen met een band sound in plaats van de hiphop beats en dramatische strijkers van haar eerdere werk. De opvallende tempowijzigingen lieten zien dat Del Rey niet op makkelijke radiohits jaagt, maar haar eigen pad volgt. Dit was ook hoorbaar op haar Nancy Sinatra Moment, ‘Shades Of Cool’, dat als promosingle werd gelanceerd. Hoewel haar stijl veranderde, voelde alles nog wel aan als typisch Lana Del Rey en dat geldt eigenlijk voor het gehele album. Als je een Born To Die deel 2 verwacht kan je teleurgesteld worden, want de hiphop beats zijn weg, de refreinen zijn minder pakkend op het eerste gehoor dan bijvoorbeeld ‘Blue Jeans’, ‘National Anthem’ en ‘Radio’, het album is minder poppy en ook wat minder glamoureus. De enige song die de beats en strijkers van deze stijl levert, is titeltrack ‘Ultraviolence’, dat een indrukwekkende verzameling pakkende melodieën is. Maar hoe klinkt de rest dan wel? Nog duisterder, meer gebouwd op gitaren, een vocaal sterkere en zelfverzekerdere Del Rey en een grote verzameling onderscheidende, maar nog steeds zeer sterke liedjes.

Het album begint met het meer dan 6 minuten lange ‘Cruel World’, waarop de donkerdere, alternatieve geluiden direct goed te horen zijn. Wat als tweede opvalt, is dat haar teksten eigenlijk maar weinig zijn mee veranderd. Ze zingt namelijk nog steeds over haar aantrekkelijke, maar o zo slechte vriendjes en het rode feestjurkje wat ze regelmatig aan en uittrekt (dansen in ‘the pale moonlight’ ontbreekt echter dit keer). Maar wat maakt het eigenlijk uit als ze zich qua thema’s misschien wat herhaalt, als de melodieën, zoals de refreinen en coupletten van het heerlijke ‘Sad Girl’, die nu verpakt worden in een frisse, maar ietwat rauwere stijl die Lana met meer zelfvertrouwen draagt, nog steeds zo goed zijn?

Op het onweerstaanbaar sterke ‘Fucked My Way Up To The Top’ laat ze zich van een meer speelse en uitdagende kant horen, met een dikke knipoog naar alle verhalen die de ronde deden dat Del Rey niet op een ‘authentieke’ manier zou zijn doorgebroken. Deze ondeugende kant horen we ook terug op het minstens zo speelse ‘Brooklyn Baby’, dat absoluut één van de hoogtepunten van het album is. Del Rey klonk nog niet eerder zo zorgeloos en vrolijk terwijl ze zingt over haar vriend in een band, haar ‘rare jazz collection’ en het feit dat ze cooler is dan haar geliefde. Naast deze pakkende blijheid, worden we ook weer getrakteerd op een flinke dosis ‘sadcore’ op bijvoorbeeld ‘Pretty When You Cry’ en het prachtige ‘Old Money’, dat zeker één van de mooiste melodieën en meest ontroerende refreinen uit haar carrière heeft. Als ze zingt, ‘But if you send for me you know I’ll come, and if you call for me you know I’ll run’, staat het kippenvel al snel op zijn armen.

Het is overigens niet alleen Del Rey die straalt op dit album, maar ook producer Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys) maakt indruk met zijn veelal gelaagde producties. Hij weet de tracks met een donkere en ruwe sound een extra emotionele dimensie mee te geven, zonder de mooie melodieën gelijk in teveel lawaai te laten verdrinken. Als ik heel eerlijk moet zijn, zou ik zeggen dat Born To Die meer liedjes had die er bovenuit staken in kwaliteit, maar tegelijkertijd is Ultraviolence echt een degelijk en passend geheel geworden. Del Rey heeft zichzelf opnieuw uitgevonden en levert wederom een sterk album vol prachtige liedjes af.

Dit moet je gehoord hebben: Brooklyn Baby, Old Money, Sad Girl, Fucked My Way Up To The Top, Ultraviolence (en natuurlijk single West Coast).

Single Review: Lana Del Rey – Shades Of Cool

Posted on May 26, 2014 by michielvmusic

Lana Del Rey channels inner Nancy Sinatra on new promo single

Have you ever imagined what it would sound like if Nancy Sinatra did another dramatic and dark bond sountrack these days? Well, Lana Del Rey did. Actually, she did not only imagine this, but she recorded something like that herself! The singer who called herself ‘gangsta Nancy Sinatra’ in the earlier days of her career and covered her ‘Summer Wine’ before, has now released a promo single called ‘Shades of Cool’, that resembles Nancy’s style in a modern day version, but still with a heavy retro feel. The song is the second track that is released from her highly anticipated new album, called Ultraviolence.

Last month, Del Rey graced us with her comeback with the brilliant single ‘West Coast‘, that showed a slight change of direction towards a somewhat more rocky band sound instead of the hip hop beats we were used to. She continues this trend with ‘Shades of Cool’, as the verses are mostly built on guitars. The light and enchanting chorus sounds a little bluesy when it comes to the rhythm, which reminds a bit of ‘Million Dollar Man’, a track on Del Rey’s Born To Die album. In the middle-eight, her inner rock chick takes over again in a dazzling guitar solo where her voice and the instrument seem to clash in an intense and captivating manner.

Although this new track sounds a bit like a Bond sountrack and obviously picks up some elements from Nancy Sinatra’s style, it still is unmistakably Lana Del Rey. Her distinctive vocals mark the song and also the lyrics are in the same vein of what we heard on her previous material. This song makes my expectations of the new album go even higher. Ultraviolence is out on the 16th of June and I for one, can not wait!

Single Review: Lana Del Rey – West Coast

Posted on April 15, 2014 by michielvmusic

Lana Del Rey shows progression on captivating new single

ALthough it is not even that long ago when Lana Del Rey launched her Paradise EP in november 2012, it seems like quite a lot of people are hungry for new music by her. Del Rey even treated us to two soundtrack songs in between the album releases. In 2013 she released the stunning ‘Young & Beautiful’ for the movie The Great Gatsby and earlier this year she made the Sleeping Beauty classic ‘Once Upon A Dream‘ completely her own for the to be released Maleficent movie. The release of the new album Ultraviolence is getting closer and on monday it was time to release the first single ‘West Coast’. Needless to say, the song is amazing and shows progression, but at the same time stays true to everything that makes Lana Del Rey such an interesting artist and songwriter.

After the premiere on the British radio station BBC, the singer put the track on YouTube as well as iTunes. It seems like her popularity in the US is growing every day, as the song managed to climb to the second spot in the iTunes charts within 24 hours after its release. ‘West Coast’ starts out as a midtempo track, based on drums and guitars. A lot of Del Rey’s previous music has hip hop beats at the basis of the song, while on ‘West Coast’, it is a full band that carries the tune. The verses build up beautifully into a captivating pre-chorus where Del Rey shows off the higher register of her vocals. Before the chorus starts, we get to hear an unusual, but definitely interesting tempo change. The exciting, sensual and sexy chorus is somewhat slower than the rest of the track and the beaufitul melody in combination with Del Rey’s soft and distinctive vocals easily makes for another Del Rey classic to be.

It is interesting to see how the song still breathes the romantic, sexy and slightly edgy atmosphere Lana is known for, but at the same time sounds quite different to her previous material. The song is produced by Dan Auerbach from the Black Keys and his influence is hearable in the fact that the song leans more towards alternative rock than the hip hop influences we saw before. It is worth mentioning that his production is incredibly layered. For example the high synths that come in during the final chorus are a brilliant detail that makes the track even more special. This slight change of direction fits Del Rey perfectly and she might even gain some new fans because of it. Luckily, the change is not that dramatic as the song still feels undeniably Lana, so I can not imagine her fans being disappointed with this. Please bring on Ultraviolence sooner than later!

The ten most exciting pop comebacks to happen in 2014

Posted on January 13, 2014 by michielvmusic

Earlier this week, I wrote about new artists that will make it in 2014, but of course there are lots of established acts that will release new material this year as well. I listed the ten most exciting artists that are working on a smashing comeback. Take a look!

10. Loreen
Loreen rose to fame after winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012 with the song ‘Euphoria’. It became a big hit across Europe and the singer released her debut album Heal. Loreen was supposed to go on a tour in December, but she postponed it because she wanted to work on new material in the studio first. She has been posting some pictures from the studio ever since so it seems fair to expect she will release something new in the near future, right? Right!

09. Frank Ocean
Frank Ocean released his debut album Channel Orange in 2012 and received high praise from music critics. The record did quite well charts wise as well and the singer has been working on some new material, that he already introduced on his recent tour. The singer has been recording in the studio quite some time, so a 2014 release seems likely. If the quality of Channel Orange is anything to go by, Frank Ocean will make another defining quality R&B record.

08. Lily Allen
Lily Allen started a huge comeback at the end of 2013. She released her most recent album in 2009 and announced to quit music. Luckily she came back though, with the singles ‘Hard Out Here’ and ‘Somewhere Only We Know’, a cover of the Keane song. The latter gave her a number 1 hit in the United Kingdom. Her album is supposed to come out in a few months and she will premiere the new song ‘Air Balloon’ this week. It is good to have her back!

07. Marina & The Diamonds
There is no official announcement made yet, that said Marina & The Diamonds will return with a new album in 2014. It is very likely however, as the singer finished her Electra Heart era with a video for the song with the same name. At the end, Marina wipes out Electra’s heart on her cheek, which symbolized the end of the campaign. It has been almost two years since the album came out, so I would expect a new release from Marina in the second part of 2014. I surely hope I am right!

06. Paloma Faith
In 2012, Paloma Faith had a very successful year with the release of her sophomore album Fall To Grace. After a tour through the UK, the singer started working on a new record, which will be released on the 3rd of March. This was announced earlier this week on the social media pages of the singer. Her new single ‘Can’t Rely On You’ will be premiered this week. If it is just as good as her previous album and the great single ‘Picking Up The Pieces’, I cannot wait to hear it!

05. Kylie Minogue
Kylie’s most recent studio album Aphrodite was released in 2010. She went on a big tour the next year and celebrated her 25 years in music. In 2013 she signed a management deal with Roc Nation for a fresh new chapter in her career. This new phase started with the promo single ‘Skirt’ last year. The official first single, ‘Into The Blue’, will premiere later this month and is officially released on the 16th of March in the United Kingdom. I guess we are all ready for Kylie’s glorious return to the dance floor.

04. Sia
This woman was all over pop music last year, but she only released two songs herself. The beautiful and understated ‘Kill And Run’ was used for The Great Gatsby soundtrack and the outstanding collaboration with Diplo and The Weeknd, ‘Elastic Heart’, was featured on the soundtrack of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Other than that, she wrote songs for pop stars like Céline Dion, Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Birdy and many more. Let’s not forget her hits with David Guetta and the worldwide smash hit ‘Diamonds’ she wrote for Rihanna. This year, she will release her own songs for a change and if the above mentioned tracks are anything to go by, it will be bloody brilliant.

03. Shakira
It has been quite a few years since we got new material from Shakira. Her most recent album Sale El Sol came out in 2010. In January 2013, Shakira gave birth to a son and she was a judge on The Voice US for one season. She has also been working on a lot of new music with a great variety of famous producers, DJ’s and writers. The first single, ‘Can’t Remember To Forget You’, which features Rihanna, will come out this week. All I hope for the new record is to bring the best of Shakira’s both worlds: ‘Don’t Bother’-style pop/rock and ‘La Tortura’-style latin pop. That would be amazing, now wouldn’t it?

02. Lana Del Rey
Two years after the release of her album Born To Die, of course it is time for a new record. Lana Del Rey has been busy in the meantime, recording and releasing new tracks for Paradise, an afterthought on Born To Die. Last year she was featured on the soundtrack of the movie The Great Gatsby, with the gorgeous ‘Young and Beautiful’ and in December, she put out her short film Tropico. At the premiere of the film she announced her new album is called Ultraviolence and it is probably supposed to be released in 2014. She is said to be working with the same people who produced Born To Die. Bring it on Lana!

01. Adele
There is no doubt about the fact that lots of people are eagerly waiting for a new album by Adele. After the huge successes of her previous record 21, the expectations are extremely high. It might be impossible for her to top that success story, but I am pretty sure that she will make a huge impact on the pop music scene again. Her publicist Paul Moss announced last week that her new album will definitely be released in 2014. The release of 24 (or whatever the record might be called) is coming closer!

Video Review: Lana Del Rey – Tropico

Posted on December 6, 2013 by michielvmusic

Lana Del Rey ends Born To Die era with epic short film

It is already two years ago that Lana Del Rey broke through with her worldwide hit ‘Video Games’. The singer rose to fame when she posted the video to that song on her YouTube account. A few months later she released the commercially very successful album Born To Die. Last year, she re-released the record as Born To Die: The Paradise Edition, with eight new tracks. Three of these tracks, ‘Body Electric’, ‘Gods And Monsters’ and ‘Bel Air’ now feature in the short film Tropico, an epic finale to Lana Del Rey’s incredible Born To Die era.

The lengthy campaign for her debut album is officially over with the release of Tropico and Lana and her team can look back at a very successful period with huge sales for the album, sold out tours and hit singles like ‘Video Games’, ‘Summertime Sadness’, ‘Ride’ and ‘Young & Beautiful’, the soundtrack for the movie The Great Gatsby. The visuals in Lana Del Rey’s work have been an important part in the campaign. She released some of the greatest music video’s in recent years like ‘Born To Die’, the lengthy video for ‘Ride’ and of course the gorgeous ‘National Anthem’, in which she plays the role of Jackie Kennedy.

Tropico is a short film of 25 minutes long, directed by Anthony Mandler (with whom she worked on ‘National Anthem’ and ‘Ride’ as well), which is divided in three parts that are all built around one of the songs. Of course, Del Rey plays the biggest part in the movie, together with albino model Shaun Ross, who is casted as her love interest. The film starts out with John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Jesus in the garden of Eden. This is of course a reference to the lyrics of ‘Body Electric’, where Lana sings “Elvis is my daddy, Marilyn’s my mother, Jesus is my bestest friend”. Lana herself plays Eve in the seductive environment of Eden and ‘Body Electric’ is the perfect soundtrack to this sequence. The visuals are stunning and the movements of Lana and her Adam go along perfectly with the song. The transition from the Eden part, completed with thunder and lightning, happens when Eve and Adam both taste the apple, which is linked to the next part where Del Rey is a stripper and her boyfriend a gang member.

This part is set in modern day Los Angeles and of course the song ‘Gods And Monsters’, absolutely one of the best things Lana has done so far, is used in this environment. While Del Rey works as a stripper, her boyfriend plans to rob a group of business men who just invited a group of naked female dancers to their party. Once again, the editing is brilliant when gunshots are completely synchronised with the beats of the music. Just like the video’s for ‘National Anthem’ and ‘Ride’, the transition from the second to the last part in ‘Tropico’, features a monologue by Del Rey. Although it is always a pleasure to listen to her lovely speaking voice, the monologues in her earlier video’s were sharper and more moving, where the Tropico speaking bits are a bit lengthy and vague at times. The last part sees Del Rey and Ross leave their sinful life and Los Angeles to go to a silent and peaceful landscape full of golden hills. On their way, they leave all their costly possessions behind them and change their clothes from black to white. In white, they dance and hug their way through the hills which delivers some stunning shots. It is absolutely the perfect visual to accompany the atmospheric and romantic sound of ‘Bel Air’.

I am not meaning to give an explanation for all that happens in Tropico, as I believe everybody could have an own interpretation for this piece that is rich in metaphors and symbolism. What I would like to add is that Del Rey is absolutely the only pop star that I could think of that has been so effectively creating great visuals to accompany her atmospheric and filmic music. She has had such a clear vision of what she wanted to tell with everything that had to do with this Born To Die chapter in her career, which is absolutely impressive. In my eyes, everything from the music to the videos and her cover art and other photo shoots, have been perfection. It is a great relief to hear that she is no longer planning to retire after Tropico, but announced she is working on her second album Ultraviolence. I am already beyond excited to see what she will come up with next.