Nut Suite. Mini reviews of albums old and new. Minimum words. No fuss. No spoilers [?]. Occasional smugs.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

LANA DEL REY / Born to Die (2012)

The 'Gangsta Nancy Sinatra' tag that Lana used to describe herself fits well, if Nancy had grown up on Lynchian sleazy jazz and sipping from a cup of sadness and nostalgia. Lana projects a kind of melancholy that drifts along steadily, occasionally peaking in a Roy Orbison homage. But that's only one aspect of it. Elsewhere there are hip-hop elements and some awkward, forced, cute high-pitched voice work that made me skip tracks.
There's a lot of repetition, apparent very quickly. Nevertheless, there's just enough maturity and seduction to sustain interest part of the time. It's not perfect but it has a certain slithery something that worked its way into my head.

Songs of Note: Summertime Sadness; Blue Jeans

2½ bitch is off to the races out of 5

2 comments:

cuckoo said...

I didn't mind this stuff too much either.

I'd go with a 3.

Dr Faustus said...

If I could strip away the parts I don't like I'd go with 3 as well. Just those bits that irk me dragged it down a little. If she keeps that trippy jazzy vibe and doesn't get too overly complex on the next album I'll happy clap.