Listeners feel Rey’s passion
by MATTHEW BAHK
Arriving with her fourth studio album, Lana Del Ray provokes a wide variety of emotions with Honeymoon.
Released Sept. 18, Honeymoon, showcases Del Ray’s ability to connect to listeners.
The album opens with a soft, string melody and leads into Del Ray singing about how “It is not fashionable to love her” with no accompaniment, building the dark romance theme. Her lyrics hold deep, powerful meanings through lines like cause you’re my religion/ you’re how I’m living. The majority of her lyrics relate to love issues and past/present relationships (There’s only 24 hours in a day/ And half as many ways for you to lie to me, my little love.)
Musically, her album covers a wide variety of tastes. A Spanish-style rhythm and guitar can be found in “Salvator,” Bond-like trumpets and strings are heard in “24” and pop-synch sounds with a faster tempo are apparent in “High by the Beach.”
Much like the rest of Del Ray’s discography, Honeymoon tells story of a character and her attachments to others, declaring the day of her breakup as “The Blackest Day” or calling her partner her “Religion” and lifestyle.
The lead single for the album, “High by the Beach,” shows her strong desire for freedom and escape from her current attachments through the “down” beat of the rhythm. Descending scales by the strings, a muted trumpet and Del Ray’s soft yet powerful voice give “24” the expression of the deep emotions she holds for her lover.
Other notable tracks on the album are “Burnt Norton – Interlude,” where Del Ray recites a poem by T.S. Eliot of the same name (Burnt Norton), and a cover of Nina Simone’s “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood.” Del Ray previously covered a track by Simone on another album (“The Other Woman” in Ultraviolence, 2014).
Just a year after her previous album, Del Ray continues to release quality music at her own expense and tells of her emotional experience. Honeymoon seems to bind listeners to Del Ray’s style and captures her ability to explicitly pinpoint emotions through her voice and sound.