Review Summary: "They think I don't understand, the freedomland of the 70s..."
I hate to be the guy who attempts to speak for everyone in a review, but I'll come right out and say it: Lana Del Rey is the kind of female artist you'd look at and hear your mind scream, "one trick pony". Let's be real here: from her fascinatingly abysmal SNL performance to her "......satan......" type persona she takes on in interviews, to even the beautifully morbid sound her music takes on, Lana Del Rey probably should have faded by now. But when you listen to her, you get the sense that there's something so much more to her waiting to claw its way out. And if her debut album
Born to Die was any indication, she is capable of making music that is so weirdly fascinating that you want more. But that was 2.5 years ago, and now, she clearly aspires to grow and be something so much more than that. It's evident from the opening, Americana-esque chords of "Cruel World", where she makes it clear that she's out to wow us yet again. Does it hold for a whole 65 minutes? Maybe not, but either way, her sophomore effort is her showing us that she doesn't need to prove anything to us anymore. She's Lana Del Rey, she's a gangsta Nancy Sinatra, and she's about to make this world hers.
Ultraviolence is ultimately similar in ways to
Born to Die, in that the theme of "trashy is sometimes beautiful" makes up most of the lyrics, and some of the songs sound like rejected demos from those sessions, but at the same time, Del Rey adds some elements of dream-pop and Americana, at times even some elements of 1950s diner swing and shoegaze. It isn't always successful, but when it is, it lingers in your head long after the turntable's needle hits the end groove. It's depressing, it's gorgeous, it's recklessly ambitious, it's inspiring and messy. Del Rey's vocal delivery shtick seems to be getting old here, which is just as much a problem as it is an advantage. She appears to be running out of things to sing about, but she makes it work for most of the times. It isn't as good as
Born to Die, but it is a significant improvement over the rather disappointing "Paradise". Production-wise,
Ultraviolence remains as tight as ever, with Dan Auerbach's touch giving it a classic and vintage feel. It wouldn't feel out of place in places like Eddie's American Diner in Cardiff, or one of those retro restaurants as shown in
Pulp Fiction. Of course, only time will tell just how much longer Del Rey will be successful in feeding us the "trailer trash and gorgeous" shtick, but for the time being, it still works.
Granted, songs like "Fucked My Way Up to the Top", "Ultraviolence", "Guns and Roses" and "Shades of Cool" are all very reminiscent of
Born to Die in the sense that they're relentlessly catchy and memorable, however, amazingly it's the moments where she experiments and adds new elements to the mix where the album is most successful. "Brooklyn Baby" shows her singing in an innocent voice while soft electric guitar chords ring out, in an attempt to sound like a retro ballad from the 1950s, contrarily singing about being in a Lou Reed tribute band and being from Brooklyn. The chorus is very poignant and ultimately helps define it as a standout. "Black Beauty" shows her throwing some country into the mix and strangely making it sound like a typical Lana Del Rey track. "West Coast" is fascinating in how it dreamily drifts through tempos while keeping a consistent sound, even if the lyrics can be downright abysmal at times. Mind you, the album isn't without its moments where it's bad. "The Other Woman" is a VERY weak note for the album to end on (you're lucky if you have the deluxe edition), "Money Power Glory" sounds like a song too shitty to make it onto even
Paradise, "Sad Girl" reeks way too much of try-hard, and... well, let's just say "Florida Kilos" is a bonus track for a reason (did she really just make a Savage Garden reference in
2014???). Yet at the same time, the bad moments of the album do add character, and seem to help define the message of the album.
Overall, the biggest drawback of
Ultraviolence is that at this point, Del Rey still seems unsure if she intends to merely tease us or inspire us. It's definitely most clear in "Florida Kilos", especially in the chant of "
Come on down to Florida, I got somethin' for ya/We could see the kilos, on the keys, baby, oh yeah" during the chorus. But at the same time, let's give Del Rey credit for at least moving forward and trying to make something more out of herself.
Ultraviolence is catchy and at times fun to listen to, and while not as good as
Born to Die, still shows that Lana still has what it takes to not be the flash in the pan we all thought her to be. Question is, though, how wisely will she use that time she has to make it clear, and just how fresh will her current dissonant gimmick be in a few years' time?
