Lana Del Rey - Born To Die

5/10

I didn't want to like this at all, but...

Even before the release of her debut album, Lana Del Rey had taken a lot of criticism. While it’s probably fair to say that she’s not the most natural of live performers, many of the snipes aimed in her direction haven’t really focused on her music. Which, in fact, isn’t all that bad.

Personally, I first heard of her because of Joy Orbison’s superb remix of her lead single, “Video Games”.  This, the song which signified Del Rey’s breakthrough, could have been the reason for the phrase ‘emotional centrepiece’. It’s soft, slow and saddeningly sorrowful; the singer’s deep, husky voice contrasting with almost childlike lyrics about someone who just wants to believe everything is alright. It’s not often that something so delicate and haunting becomes a successful pop record.

The bad news? There’s not a lot else of that on the album. Del Rey’s attempts to become a “gangster Nancy Sinatra” are sometimes amusing but often laughable. Despite some enjoyable hip-hop beats thrown into the mix, there’s not a lot of need for her to break out the raps. She starts in second track “Off To The Races”, but her flow really comes to the fore in “The National Anthem”; ruining a really dark, well-produced track with lines such as “Sugar sugar how now/Take your body downtown”.

Despite the excellence of “Video Games”, she isn’t winning many prizes for songwriting content. “You so fresh to death and sick as cancer”... really?! Much of the record sees her trying too hard to project a tired image akin to the R&B mean girl, loving the bad boys even when they treat her wrong, but being a bit rough the edges herself. And if you think that doesn’t fit her too well, have a listen to “Radio”, where she glorifies her struggle from wayward young woman to successful recording artist. As I said I’d only focus on the music, I’ll leave it to you to figure out why she has no sense of irony.

But the album does have its moments. Rather than trying to create an edgy image or do something too dramatic, Del Rey may be better off just making simple pop tracks like the catchy “Diet Mountain Dew”. Or if she is going to be dramatic, she could at least make more songs like the title track. “Born To Die” is emotionally charged, just a bit over the top and feels a lot more genuine than a lot of the lyrical non-events elsewhere on the album. It does beg the question of why she’s pursued the path of glam-bitch rather than showing more of her vulnerable side.

Another thing the album has going for it is some excellent production from Emile Haynie, whose previous works include Kid Cudi’s Man on the Moon: The End of Day and Eminem’s Recovery. His sound is always clean and often complements the singer’s vocal delivery well, whether it’s a sombre downtempo number or a sultry declaration of lust. Haynie's tendency to be melodramatic sometimes sounds a bit ridiculous (for example, on “Dark Paradise”), it brings in the Hollywood factor which Del Rey would undoubtedly have wanted.

With a handful of really good tracks on here, it’s a shame that a lot of the other songs are easily forgettable. The sequencing of the album is also badly affected, which is so bad just a few minutes in; how can you follow up “Born To Die” with “Off To The Races”? It also has implications for the end of the album, with mediocre tracks being shoved to the end. All in all, it’s not a particularly satisfying package, but has some special moments.

This album was released on 27 January by Polydor, available from Amazon.