Lana Del Rey has already shown us she is the most truly unconventional artist we have seen since Lady Gaga took over the pop music scene in 2008-2009. From her originally eery voice to her melancholy dream world of sad girls and bad boys, the ice queen of pop prepared to grace us again with her 5th studio album entitled, Lust For Life.
Lust For Life was announced by the singer in April, with an album trailer no less, depicting the Summertime Sadness crooner performing various feats of magic, all while monologuing in the middle of the H of the Hollywood sign. The trailer also includes a message for her fans and the world, in general, which is that even though times are crazy, they aren't so very different than what other generations have experienced. The video ends with her announcing the name of the album.
Only days later, did she release the title track, and the main subject of this review and break down. Unexpectedly, Lana chose the title track to be her first duet featuring another artist, this being the ice king of R&B: The Weeknd. Her choice for a duet is anything but unexpected. The two have actually worked together twice, once on his sophomore album, Starboy and once on his first album: Beauty Behind The Madness.
The song is nothing less than a fucking masterpiece. But not for its overwhelming power, but for its goddamn beauty. In the past, Lana has used glorious symphonies and orchestras to make her music sound big and cinematic, but she dials it way down with Lust For Life. The song begins with her actually not singing but talking, "We climb to the H, of the Hollywood sign" she coos and talks casually about summer, for specifically July, (Which she's kind of known for) she induces the legendary poem, 'Invictus': "Cause we're the masters of our own fates, we're the captains of our own souls". She then runs into the pre-chorus with a soft beckoning, "Take off take off, take off all your clothes, take off take off...take off all your clothes...take off take off...take of all of your clothes" The Weekend then basically throat punches you into next week as he angelically comes in to say, "They say only the good die young, well that just ain't right, cause we're having too much fun; too much fun tonight...". It shocked me how utterly cohesive the two were, how he was able to pick up right where she left off. They both then work into the chorus, which is oddly unsatisfying just because the buildup has been so beautiful, but it's kind of nice they kept it low key.
The chorus of the song is basically them cohesively crooning: "And a lust for life...keeps us alive". Which is totally fine, but expected something a bit deeper from Lana's past work. I mean, I questioned my entire existence after Ultraviolence. But I don't knock off points for that, only because it's actually really beautiful and follows the narrative of her song "Love" which is an ode to the glory of youth.
The next verse is similar to the first, she cites again the need to dance on the H of the Hollywood sign, and tab this point I am kind of getting a repetitive theme. But what I've learned with Lana is that if she repeats something, it's important. And if you really know Lana, she doesn't actually mean that she wants to literally dance on the Hollywood sign, it's a metaphor for something we're all too dumb to understand.
They move into the pre-chorus but this time she says "My boyfriend's back, and he's cooler than ever" which seems very similar to her Ultraviolence track, Brooklyn Baby, which says "Well my boyfriend's pretty cool, but he's not as cool as me." I kind of shat my chaps when I heard this, just because I love when an artist can successfully reference another song of theirs.
Lana gives us a stripped down pre-chorus of "Take off, take off...take off all your clothes" three times and move into the final chorus with a vocal flourish by The Weeknd, ending the track. And then I hit replay, because goddamnit that's a good song.
The music to the track has a simple four count beat accompanied by a simple harmonizing tone that never really changes except in pitch at stressed areas of the song. But for the most part, the song heavily relies on the vocals of the two main artists, which seems to work out extremely well.
So why did I call this a masterpiece? Because it showcases all the best things about a song: the cohesiveness of two talented vocalists, the simplicity yet depth of the lyrics, and the ability to be extravagant, but not in the background music. This stripped down song contradicts itself in so many ways, which is sort of entertaining. For example, the title is called Lust For Life, yet the style of the song is very melancholy and slow, which suggests that being wild and crazy isn't the only way to enjoy life. Sometimes you just gotta sit back, pop a pill and be crazy in a really slow sensual way, kind of like what Lana does.
Lust For Life also comes at a time when the artist and the world needs it most. Honeymoon in my opinion, was a terrific record and I applaud Lana's ability to hit a home run like that. But commercially, it didn't smash any records. So her teaming up with The Weeknd who has a little fame to boast about himself, is logically a genius move. Lana also tells us this record will be for her fans, not her. Which is weird because her previous records have been amazing to me, so I can't wait to see what she has cooked up for us.
In closing, Lust For Life is a lush escape into the minds and hearts of two of this generation's most satisfying voices, and an introduction to what promises to be another smash record by the queen of all things sad: Lana Del Rey.
