One thing you have to give to Lana Del Ray, regardless of what you think of her is that she's certainly prolific. She has another album out. She's someting of a production line. Exploring the same themes every time since she first appeared. Longing, loss, memory. She doesn't seem to be an artist that offers many happy endings.
Her latest album Chemtrails Over The Country Club, starts with a song called White Dress. The white dress Lana was wearing was a waitresses one at 19, but all the time clearly thinking in her head of another kind of white dress.
For the record , I have a fair bit of time for Lana though I'm not sure she'll ever top the first song I heard from her, Video Games. In many ways it encapsulates all that was and is great about her. But on first play of Chemtrails I found myself wanting to stop listening to it and put Video Games on instead.. That was the one that established her formula and I have to say she's being just a bit formulaic here. No I'll rephrase that. Utterly formulaic
It's a formula that sells and will continue to sell. If you ever want to go all dewey eyed and nostalgic. Think about your first love and what you've lost. Think about America in the Fifties and early Sixties, Probably things that you've never experienced. But life is surely about going forward if you can and I'm not sure Lana's going anywhere new here. I've heard this Lana Del Ray record before and frankly it sounds desperately tired to me.
This kind of thing is quite common these days. I'm constantly hearing albums that want to take me back to 1972. To 1981. This one, like so many of Lana's has 1958 in mind. Picket fences. Troubled teens. Technicolor. Coming from a small town and wanting to get out of it. Into a cadillac and out onto the highway. But frankly by Track Four I was wanting to get out and go somewhere else.Even if it meant running back to the small town.
If this was my first Lana Del Ray experience I would probably have perservered. But it isn't and I wasn't willing to. I wanted to hear something fresh and inspirational. This is hackneyed and listless. If you want to listen to a Lana Del Ray album, go elsewhere. She's done far better. Chemtrails Over The Country Club is yesterday's papers. Who wants yesterday's papers. Nobody in the world. Indeed.. It's a very, very poor record. Possibly worse than that. 'Making out in the parking lot' Lana. Oh no. No thanks! Strictly for the birds
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