Lana Del Rey is so complicated. Which should be a compliment, as “complicated” is probably one of the many traits she is trying to incorporate into her overall mystical image.
But what is her overall image? What look or sound or style is she trying to fit into? I feel like she is trying to be Old Hollywood, mid-century modern, depressed, and wild party girl all at once.
Coming off her “Video Games” fame that thrust “Born to Die” into stardom, Lana Del Rey’s new album “Paradise” was released November 13 and has a softer sound yet grittier feel than her last album.
Because she’s going for a trendy image, I’m wary of liking her music. Yet I do, to an extent. The problem with Lana Del Rey is that she doesn’t always use her singing voice. She’ll sing beautifully for part of a song and then just growl out the rest, ruining a song that could have been really good with a voice that sounds like she’s been smoking for fifty years.
I want to like “Ride,” the first single of “Paradise,” but I just can’t bring myself to. The lyrics are emotional and interesting, and the song is slow and floaty with a strong chorus. The only problem is the singing. Only one line out of the song is sung nicely, the rest are spoken or just moaned. If Lana Del Rey actually utilized her singing voice, “Ride” could be a very pretty song. She also made a raunchy short film to go along with the song.
“American” was one of the few songs where Del Rey actually sang the entire time. She sung the floaty and light song without talk-singing in a low growl, although the song as a whole didn’t have much substance.
Being an avid lover of fifties music, “Blue Velvet” was my favorite song from “Paradise” by far. Originally written in 1950 and made popular by various artists throughout the middle of the 20th century, the song has a beautiful tune and lyrics. Luckily, Lana Del Rey didn’t butcher it too badly and sung nicely for most of the song. It was nice for her to defy her usually rather promiscuous image by covering a sweet retro song.
“Yayo” was not so much of a song as it was just five minutes and 21 seconds of Lana Del Rey crying in a pretty way. There was hardly any instrumentals in the background, and most of the song was just slow, wispy, sad vocals that echoed as if heard across a giant empty space.
“Burning Desire,” was one of the strangest songs on the album. Related to driving, like so many songs on the album, this song was executed unusually and to no avail. The song was sung in Del Rey’s signature snarl, but the chorus sounded demonic. She lowered her voice drastically and it turned the already floundering song into a flop.
“Paradise” was another strange and disappointing album from Lana Del Rey. Some songs actually had potential to be enjoyable, but were ruined by Del Rey’s low, raspy, smoker voice; while others were hardly singing at all. “Paradise” would have been a much better album if Lana Del Rey had just used her real voice.
