Single Review – Lana Del Rey: “High By the Beach”

We are about to be four albums in and I’m still intrigued of the conundrum that is Lana Del Rey. Last year, I wrote about the 2014 release, Ultraviolence which was a step away from the wistful, alternative rap elements of Born To Die. The album almost played out like a movie where the heroine does not get the happy ending, so I was interested in hearing where Honeymoon was headed. The first single from Honeymoon of the same name was a lusty, orchestra-filled number that could have been played in those black and white movies where you fall in love with the lounge singer at the local jazz bar. It was unorthodox to unveil a ballad as the first song as the introduction to your upcoming album, but Lana Del Rey is anything but conventional.

“High By The Beach”, our second taste from the album is if Born To Die and Ultraviolence decided to get hitched. The song brings where we in the house of Rey full circle. A mid-tempo track that was inspired by Del Rey’s drives to the west coast that rides a trap beat with synths. The thing with Lana Del Rey is that a song like this can be considered an upbeat song. Her songs have a way of making you feel relaxed even though the subject matter may be completely different. In the majority of the narratives (See Ultraviolence), Rey loses herself to the essence of falling in love with a man that will eventually leave her broken. Here, the tables are turned and it’s actually refreshing to see the songstress come out on the winning side. “Don’t need your money / to get what I want”

So far, we have two different sides of the coin leading up to Honeymoon – the romance and the liberation. I see a maturation process showing and it’s honestly making me more intrigued for the album. It’s like the novel that you had to read another page of. The legend of Lana Del Rey has a few tales of love and lust to reconnoitre with the audience yet.

Written by M.J. Rawls – Follow @ViewtifulJ21

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxjw_8RpoNI[/youtube]