Born to Die
Lana Del Rey
Interscope Records
Lana Del Rey a.k.a Lizzy Grant a.k.a Sparkle Jump Rope Queen is back with her second album. Confused? Apparently so is Del Rey, who has reinvented herself as a musician several times.
Unfortunately, the transformation has only gone skin deep. Born to Die offers Del Rey’s same empty pop hooks despite some new indie packaging.
Released Jan. 31, Born to Die is just as disconnected as Del Rey’s identity. The album lacks flow and is more like a collection of singles than a cohesive record. It could be best described as a mixed bag of watered down melancholy-infused tracks and an unsuccessful foray into experimental indie-rap.
Aside from singles “Video Games” and “Born to Die,” arguably the two songs on the album with the most musical substance, there’s nothing particularly special about Born to Die. The album sounds like the product of a major record label trying to emulate an indie aesthetic.
Although parts of the record adequately establish Del Rey’s sound as an indie-pop songstress, most of the album doesn’t seem to add up to one concise, musical entity. On “National Anthem,” Del Rey raps, “Money is the anthem of success / So put on mascara, and your party dress.” Next, she’s crooning away like a 1940s starlet on “Million Dollar Man.”
The album is also riddled with clichés. “Don’t make me sad, don’t make me cry / Sometimes love is not enough and the road gets tough,” Del Rey cries out on “Born to Die” while hinting at her “troubled” past described in “Off To The Races.”
It’s difficult to imagine the daughter of Rob Grant, a successful domain investor, having much of a troubled youth. She studied at a Connecticut boarding school before attending Fordham University in New York. She eventually decided to drop out to pursue a career in music.
Del Rey, born Elizabeth “Lizzy” Grant, had previous musical projects under her own name and as Sparkle Jump Rope Queen. In comparison to her earlier musical projects, Del Rey hasn’t shown any growth as an artist except in her appearance and in a small step towards a more “alternative” sound.
Previously, Del Rey’s tracks consisted of her deep vocals with the sole accompaniment of a guitar. Under the direction of Interscope Records, strings and sound samples like the fireworks at the beginning of “National Anthem” are common throughout Born To Die.
Perhaps Del Rey isn’t to blame for Born to Die’s mass-produced, synthesized, sugar-coated indie-pop feel. Interscope Records should realize that posh Connecticut boarding schools aren’t ideal breeding grounds for the next big thing “indie” has to offer.
It doesn’t matter how hard a big music industry tries to rebrand her. Del Rey still isn’t any more special, nor talented, than her bleached blonde, acrylic-nailed Sparkle Jump Rope Queen act from a few years ago.
