It's like she came out of a Hollywood dream, Lana Del Rey: a fresh-faced, cinematic, vintage starlet with a smoky voice to match her siren appearance. All of these elements built up an immense amount of chatter in the back-half of 2011, as this very image pushed her single "Video Games" into the fringes of pop culture. It's not that hard to tell that this is an ambitious, highly important artist, looking to haul the days of the peace movement into the present. "Video Games" pretty much achieved this, so the sheer amount of expectation put on Del Rey's debut was quite astounding. But if you take this pressure, compound it with an SNL performance that invited all sorts of criticism towards her vocal ability, then you have yourself what could possibly end her career before it really begins. Thankfully, "Born to Die" isn't anywhere close to that. This is a fully realized record, complete with strong hooks through the verses and choruses and sympathetic productions to give LDR the retro-sultry-hippie mood she was aiming for. She delivers every song with an impeccable amount of elegance, even if her lyrics might not follow suit (nowhere more apparent than in "Diet Mountain Dew", where she stumbles in her homage to New York City with some clumsy references to 7/11 and Pontiacs). Every song is augmented with lovely string arrangements, and while there are pop culture references a plenty, most often LDR's vacant reading of the songs can mold everything together into cohesion. Then there's her knack for modern sensibility, placing some squealing synths in the marvelous title track and most often infusing her songs with diluted hip-hop beats. Indeed, "Born to Die" isn't necessarily pop in form, but it certainly feels like radio-friendly fare. And that's just fine, since an entire album of the same vocal delivery and marginally similar productions can start to fall in sameness half-way through. Make no mistake, this is a hooky, stylish, and accomplished debut from a smart and detailed woman. Even if this record doesn't quite follow-through in turning LDR into a full-fledged superstar, it definitely proposes that she very well could be the next album out.
Recommended Tracks in Bold:
1. Born to Die 2. Off to the Races 3. Blue Jeans
4. Video Games 5. Diet Mountain Dew 6. National Anthem
7. Dark Paradise 8. Radio 9. Carmen
10. Million Dollar Man 11. Summertime Sadness
12. This is What Makes Us Girls
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