A household name, Lana Del Rey’s sound is completely unmistakable, her solemn tones atop of crisp electronics has skyrocketed the 32-year-old into uncontested stardom. Returning back into the public eye with her latest 16-piece record, the first since 2015, Lust For Life, Lana has proved that her sombre sound still holds a surprising amount of energy and mystery.

‘Summertime Sadness’ and ‘Young And Beautiful’ are both past tracks which capture Lana’s essence in its entirety and tunes which everyone has become accustomed to, and immediately from the offset of the record, the same trends reappear. ‘Love’ reintroduces the artist alongside a familiar minimalistic ambience whereby her aching voice dominates the scene, as a steady drum beat grows and the vocals begin to outlet an enormous level of power and the album is set into its stride. The atmospheric electronics continue to develop and grow into ‘Lust For Life’ featuring The Weeknd’s Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, the first of many collaborations on the record. Lana and Abel’s vocals bounce off each other’s with an immense level of mutualism that both thrive off. ‘Lust For Life’ may border more on the pop tendencies of teenage romance and youthful adolescence but the track’s colourful overtones more than dominate the piece and certainly make for an early peak in the record.

Ethereal synth and stern vocals may be Lana’s staple but, as the album continues, the tracks do all begin to blend into similar strands of the same sound, at times making Lana’s unique speciality become more of a one trick pony and, because of this, with the exception of just a few numbers, the majority of tracks do become fuzzy with only a handful of other moments truly standing out. This being said, there are times where Lana’s voice induces a distinct level of emotion and feeling to the listen. ‘Cherry’ in particular feels like a track straight out of a noir film and, in that respect, Lana would be more than suited for that roll! The track continues to hold an immense level of subtlety which really make the listen feel fresh after the first play as you can begin to nitpick each of the backing instrumentals and how they impact the overall sound.

Similarly, Lana’s smile on the face of the record seems somewhat juxtaposing. It feels strange for an artist who has developed her career upon the gloomy to be so radiantly smiling on her cover, however Lust For Life does capture its inner meanings immensely well. I feel ‘Beautiful People Beautiful Problems’ encapsulates this record’s level of potential; Lana’s voice is simply angelic atop of the minimal piano tunes and, as the track grows with backing choirs, synth and drum, a sudden appearance from the legendary Stevie Nicks then steals the spotlight for the already exquisite number! Stevie’s tones may be more traditional western folk than Lana’s but they bounce off each other just as well as the earlier collaborations from The Weeknd and act as an equally high point for the later stages of the record, making up for the underwhelming middle areas.

The album concludes with ‘Get Free’ and acts as a delightful send off to the record; the more traditional backing band sounds actually highlight Lana’s tones even more than the synth she is so accustomed to and added a final bit of diversity to the overall sound which was very much needed, making for a wholesome end to what has been a rollercoaster of an album. Overall, Lana’s return with Lust For Life may have its flaws and is by no means as revolutionary as her previous releases, but is certainly an album which many will find themselves able to truly immerse themselves into. Lana has certainly proven that she is still dominating her concoctive blend of traditional folk and new wave electronica and that she isn't going anywhere soon.

Ben Walker

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