From the moment I first heard her previous album, “Ultraviolence”, I was hooked. Honeymoon then became my most anticipated album of 2015.
And I was not disappointed.
From the moment the first strings on the title song began, I could feel that this was going to be another unforgettable dive into the cinematic, haunting world of Lana Del Rey’s music. In fact I recommend listening to this album for the first time in total darkness on your own if you can.
This isn’t required, but it really helped me to absorb the music as much as possible.
Melancholy
The melancholy of her previous album is still present but feels more upbeat this time around. You can hear this notably on the album’s first single, “High by the beach”.
Not that melancholy is a bad thing at all – some of my favourite music is just that – what I’m trying to get at is that her unique sound is still there, but she’s taking it into new places.
She’s an artist who isn’t afraid to push her voice to the front and centre – often making her sound vulnerable and alone.
This is demonstrated perfectly in “Terrance Loves You”. This is minimally backed through the opening verses, and builds to a soaring chorus, still managing to stay somehow minimal – just herself, piano and strings.
Well I lost myself when I lost you
From “Terrance Loves You”, Track 3.
But I still got jazz when I’ve got the blues
I lost myself and I lost you too
And I still get trashed, honey, when I hear your tunes
The sound of the album
She often harmonizes with herself backed by minimal, reverbed instruments – pianos and light strings. This helps create that unique world I mentioned earlier: haunting; cinematic. Saying that however there are plenty of uses of light drum beats in this album – often when building to the climax of a song, never just for the sake of having a drum beat.
The melodies throughout this album are gorgeous too. The pan pipe sounding intro to Salvatore is a great, hypnotic example of this, which she replicates vocally for the chorus.
Ah-ah-ah-ah, Ah-ah-ah-ah, Cacciatore.
From “Salvatore”, Track 10.
Ah-ah-ah-ah, Ah-ah-ah-ah, Limousines.
Ah-ah-ah-ah, Ah-ah-ah-ah, Ciao Amore.
Ah-ah-ah-ah, Ah-ah-ah-ah, Soft ice cream.
My favourite song on the album would probably have to be 24. It’s a crowning achievement on a great album, which show’s off something that I’ve been saying for a while – if she wanted to, she could write one hell of a bond song.
In fact Spectre has recently been released – the 24th bond film. Coincidence? Or is this a cheeky wink from Miss Grant? I’d like to think the latter.
In Conclusion
If you’ve never listened to a Lana Del Rey album before, this is as good as any to start with. My personal favourite of hers overall is probably still “Ultraviolence”, but this album also has a couple of my favourite songs of hers.
If you have heard her previous albums and are yet to listen to this one, wait no longer. You wont be disappointed.
What are your favourite songs of Lana’s? Let me know in the comments below.
