Any lingering doubts that Lana Del Rey is the most captivating popstar on the planet are dispelled within 30 undreamable seconds of Honeymoon.
The orchestra strings rise across boulevards of sadness, swirling into a minor chord before retreating. Silence falls. “We both know,” enters the voice. “That it’s not fashionable to love me...”
Finally! Here is a production that swells in time to the oceans of longing in Del Rey’s voice. The dusty guitars of last year’s Ultraviolence have given way to widescreen sophistication, John Barry harmonies, Mulholland Drive vistas and above all, ambition (the title track unfurls over six minutes).
While Del Rey has captured that mood sporadically since she first emerged with Video Games in 2010, she hasn’t quite managed to sustain it as she does here.
The melodramas of Salvatore, Swan Song and Terrence Loves You may be made from unreal parts, but they will soundtrack many real tears. And as the closing cover of Nina Simone’s Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood demonstrates, no one plays their persona off against their art with such drama.
(Universal)
