The time has come again, for Lana Del Rey to put out another full length and opinion to be split. From the start of this review I have to admit that I have loved her previous works and have waited curiously for what this LP will bring. Lana Del Rey is almost the anti pop star - she isn’t trying to pretend she’s squeaky clean and her songs are dark, yet she is the most streamed female artist in the United States on Spotify. In the world of current popular music, not a lot interests me and | find myself drawn to Lana Del Rey in a strange way I’m sure a lot of her other fans are too. Her music is what people would call “boring”, yet I find her as a person very intriguing but I’m also well aware it could be a façade to sell records.
‘Honeymoon’ is a slow start with the first four tracks not particularly grabbing me on the first listen. This includes the opening title track ‘Honeymoon’ and the infamous ‘Music To Watch Boys To.’ From the first listen it is clear why ‘High By The Beach’ was chosen as the lead single as it has the strongest pop chorus of the album and the music is more “developed” with the vocal being easy to pick up on throughout. It is almost as if that song has been chosen as the single and then been produced in a style different to the album because it almost doesn’t fit in.
My first impression of the record is that there’s nothing new here yet that it is different to her previous work. Where ‘Born To Die’ was very saturated with layers and each song having a strong personality of it’s own from the start and then ‘Ultraviolence’ having a much darker theme with more of a guitar driven sound (no surprise there with Dan Auerbach producing the latter) ‘Honeymoon’ lacks that initial striking personality. If I had to compare this to any of her previous work it would probably come closest to tracks ‘Video Games’ or ‘Old Money’ as it is very understated on initial listens which will warrant repeat listening. The piano and strings play a large part throughout, with her voice taking centre stage as always. In my opinion the vocal production is fantastic on this album with the layering being great and the reverb/delay being very well used.
On further listens the album gets stronger as it goes on, and it is worth repeat listens. Standout tracks for me include ‘Religion’ and ‘Blackest Day’. I’m finding the second half easier to access which is quite strange for records in my opinion; it has more going on musically and personally I prefer the vocal hooks. After several listens of the album the track I keep going back to is ‘Music To Watch Boys To’ - a song that I originally wrote off as I just can’t get enough of the chorus.
Lana Del Rey does play it slightly safe with this record. If I was in her position I would try to focus on the music more and still keep the vocal and lyric style. A change in the music behind the voice can really change an album and still allow the recurring vocal/lyric theme she has that has proved popular. If you enjoy Lana Del Rey you should pick it up and put time into listening as it does reward it - but on the flip side, it you do not enjoy her already then you should probably steer clear as there’s nothing revolutionary from her.
Standout tracks:
Religion
Music To Watch Boys To
Swan Song
**This is quite a hard album to review from initial listens as there is quite a lot of depth (even from such a sparse album.) I’ve tried to give people an insight in what to expect without listening to it by comparing to her previous work. It is also likely that in 6 months time this could be my favourite record by her as it really is looking like it will be a grower.
