Album Review: Lana Del Rey - Born to Die

Lana Del Rey - Born to Die (2012, Interscope)

Spotify

By Alex

Lana Del Rey’s debut album, Born to Die has finally arrived after months of think pieces and backlash and the such.  I’m not going to try and write a think piece here, too many people have done that already. After having listened to Born to Die so many times, I can’t say that I’ve particularly enjoyed it. Which honestly makes me a bit sad because I really didn’t want to add to the pile of negativity Lana is already receiving. The Antlers recently tweeted about wanting to send her cupcakes and I agree with that sentiment. Prior to it’s release I was honestly still silently rooting that the album wouldn’t be some awkward mess. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

Born to Die, production-wise is a pretty interesting album. A lot of the drums and beats in general sound like ripoffs of Kanye West’s “Runaway” or anything off 808s & Heartbreak with a more sparse sound. Which even as “rejected” tracks wouldn’t sound so bad if it weren’t for the lyrics and Lana’s voice. Both two major components of what makes a good album. Unfortunately Lana only goes from her monotone baritone to a creepy baby wannabe Lolita voice.  This is most jarring on tracks “Off to the Races”, “National Anthem”, and “This is What Makes Us Girls”. 

The most prominent issue I take up with the album is that throughout, Lana is trying to come across as a tortured songstress of sorts. Which is the vibe I got from her from the first track I ever listened to by her, “Diet Mountain Dew”. To be honest this is why I was teetering more on hoping her album would be good. I needed a replacement for Amy Winehouse’s Tanqueray laced relationship woes. I want to avoid a Lana comparison to Amy Winehouse because other than the whole “fucked up mess” aspect of their lyrics, there isn’t that much in common. When Amy sang about drinking Tanqueray you could almost hear the gin in her voice. Not only that, it was a voice that told relatable stories, at times even humorous. I mean who else but Amy Winehouse to pull off a line like “What kind of fuckery is this”? On the other hand Del Rey’s association with drugs and alcohol in her lyrics almost seems like her just trying to impress someone… if that someone is whoever gets to offer artists money for using their songs in commercials. There is not one track that sounds to me like Del Rey just drank the Cristal, Bacardi chasers, or “Pabst Blue Ribbon on ice” she mentions, she maintains a cold monotone throughout. The first two drinks are a part of the awful but required listening that is “Off to the Races”, the PBR promo spot is a part of “This is What Makes Us Girls” and no, Lana, this is not what makes us girls. 

Lyrically, when she’s not attempting to rhyme “ovation” with “Saigon” (go listen to “The National Anthem” right now), there isn’t any more depth to the album. All of her songs follow the same formula of I know you’re bad for me but you remind me of James Dean so let’s get really drunk and drive around in your car. At least it maintains that motif throughout? Except for “This is What Makes Us Girls” which actually is just a song about how girls tear each other down. Not that that’s much better.

If you think of Lana Del Rey as a pop star NOT an indie star or indie pop star or whatever it’s easy to just listen to her songs as you would listen to Katy Perry or Britney Spears or Rihanna. You don’t expect life changing lyrics, but you do expect fun. Or at least intrigue. Unfortunately, what Born to Die is lacking the most is a sense of humor that usually comes with being a pop star. The whole album is deadly serious, in the worst kind of way. When Lana sings “Money is the anthem of success/So before we go out/What’s your address/I’m your National Anthem”, I don’t think she’s kidding about any of it. The money or the thinking that a guy calling you a national anthem is sexy. On “Without You” Del Rey sings about having everything she wants but just a few lines later she asks us if she’s glamorous. It’s not uncharacteristic to have an artist be so self assured and then self conscious within one album, but it’s a little unsettling that she loses her confidence so quickly.  The one glimmer of hope for any future release by Del Rey is the possibility that she’ll stop going from the extreme of cooing like a cracked out Lolita to monotone disenchantment, her voice sounds best somewhere in the middle. Unfortunately there are very few tracks on the album that hint at this. 

4.5/10

Songs I Starred on Spotify:

• Born to Die
• Diet Mountain Dew
• Video Games