Lana Del Rey - Born To Die
January 31st, 2012
Interscope Records
Score: 6.7

So I suppose in many ways I’m still coming to terms with the fact that this ‘debut’ album from New York chanteuse Lana Del Rey has caused such a stir in both indie and mainstream circles and that anyone really gives a fuck what NBC news anchor Brian Williams or failed singer and child actress Juliette Lewis has to say on the matter.

Better yet, why would anyone judge an artist on a 2-song performance on a declining late night comedy sketch show without also bringing into question said show’s writing and performing? Let me say now I would much rather sit through Lana Del Rey’s flawed performance of the genuinely brilliant ‘Video Games’ for 90 minutes than have to view the entirety of an SNL show that is a Kristen-Wiig-walking-out away from fading into insignificance.

‘Video Games’ is a marvelous accomplishment, Lana can sing, and, yes, her dad is really rich, but that didn’t stop Julian Casablancas, Joanna Newsom, and many other indie newcomers from overcoming their privileged beginnings. Sure, a less advantaged start in life is a much greater incentive to overcome, get out and make something of yourself, but in pop music does it really matter? I don’t need Lana Del Rey to carve ’4 real’ into her arm with a sharp blade to make me appreciate her music more. No, these are tunes to enjoy at face value — no need to delve deep and discover the hidden secrets that make things possible. Take it or leave it, laugh at it or just take it all in for what it is, Born To Die is a rather decent record from a young woman who to my knowledge has never pretended to be anything other than what she presents herself as here.

So yeah, laugh at the YouTube clips of the much-spoken-of Saturday Night Live performance, but look deeper and you will find many more videos on said website of a young performer singing those same songs immaculately. This is not a fraud in that regard. I have no doubt that Lana Del Rey’s career has in some ways been shaped by some money-making suits, but if you sit down and listen to the first 6 songs on Born To Die without prejudice, then it’s hard not to be impressed.

Lana comes across as some kind of Tarantino dream, every bit a potential member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. Equally capable of breaking your heart as she is breaking your legs, Del Rey presents herself at least as the real deal, a crossover artist who will strike as big a chord with the indie kids as she will with the illegitimate children of the FM radio who still find solace in the dirge of Katie Perry, Ke$ha, and Jessie J. For the most part, Born To Die is a smart record that also offers all the danger and sexiness that anyone could ever wish for while maintaining integrity and above all else an amazing demonstration of delivering catchy pop songs that meld several genres.

‘Video Games’ was in many ways a false advertisement — a song that would have us believe that Lana Del Rey was a rebirth of the 50s Hollywood lounge singer akin to the femme fatale character of a Jessica Rabbit or Elsa Lichtmann. And while it’s impossible to not be moved by that staggering c0mposition of insecure love, surely to then hear a song like ‘Off To The Races’ can’t do anything but throw you off a little. It might make a little more sense to know that Emile produced a lot of this record, the same fella behind the decks of Kanye West’s ‘Runaway’. That lush, synthesized orchestration and vocal effects perhaps a little too much a trademark of the producer than the artist herself, but there is no doubting it works here on many occasions.

The opening title track is a memorizing and seductive invitation into the world of Lana Del Rey. Obviously, the “baby we were born to die” sentiment creates some kind of noir-inspired sense of inevitable tragedy, but it’s exciting all the same. ‘Off To The Races’ takes it even further with a blindsiding chorus that Britney Spears has been pining for since it all went a little off the rails. ‘Radio’ is as bubblegum and sweet as it gets, albeit with a cheeking ‘fuck’ thrown in to make sure it doesn’t make the mainstream rotation where it really belongs.

With the exception of ‘Radio’ and fine closer ‘This Is What Makes Us Girls’, Born To Die does have moments of struggle over the second half — particularly on the unremarkable ‘Dark Paradise’ and ‘Summertime Sadness’. But for the most part, the bad is always outweighed by the good. ‘Diet Mountain Dew’ is simply a great pop/dance/hip hop track while the outstanding ‘National Anthem’ is a template for how great pop music really can be. Unapologetic, catchy, brooding, and anthemic, it really is a fine achievement of excessive glory.

Undoubtedly, this is the most talked-about and successful album of 2012 thus far and in many ways it deserves this attention. It certainly won’t be the best record of the year, but it’s clearly the work of a talented artist. Perhaps a little more focus, time, and sense of place and a chance to make a record on her own terms will lead to much greater things, but there is no doubt Lana Del Rey is no fraud. She is a pop star, a singer who exhibits as much as she hides. A mystery unsolved, so many questions asked, but do we really want the answers?

Born To Die makes for a fine debut that for now makes me believe that there is plenty more to come from Lana Del Rey. We’d better get used to her being around, which really isn’t a bad thing at all.

Matthew James

Official Site