Lana Del Rey // Million Dollar Man

I just had myself a listen of Lana Del Rey’s ‘Born To Die’. It’s a good album. Very good in fact. Of course this is all just first impressions, but it seems that Lana may just have lived up to the hype. And there was a lot of hype, so I’m not just making some backhanded compliment as if I’m reviewing the latest Porcelain Black single or something.

Fans haven’t seemed to be picking out ‘Million Dollar Man’ as an initial favourite track from what I’ve seen, but it just stood out to me on the first listen. Maybe that’s because it’s a bit different from the rest of the album. The instrumental is a lot softer compared to the other tracks on the LP. The strings have a warmth about them, despite that fact that Lana sounds vulnerable as she tells us of her heartbreak. There’s this strange wailing sound throughout the song, making it all sound ever so mysterious. I like that. A lot.

Somehow the melody reminds me of the Sugababes ‘Caught In A Moment’. It’s that sweet, seductive lead up to the chorus. It just makes the song. That’s a very good Sugababes song, so yet again there is no backhanded compliment that I reserve for the likes of DEV. She doesn’t seem to sing or rap, it’s all very unpleasant. Besides, I don’t often post songs I don’t like on the site. So rest assured Lana fans, I think I love this track.

Lana Del Rey // Off To The Races

Described as a song “describing an impossibly strained relationship flooded with cocktails, tears and regret,” ‘Off To The Races’ is a new song from Lana Del Rey’s upcoming debut album ‘Born To Die’, which is being given away as the free song of the week on UK Itunes this week.

With melancholic strings and dark beats, this song has a decidedly more Hip-Hop arrangement than Lana’s previous work. This makes the song have a lot more pace than her previous tracks, but she manages to pull it off while still wallowing in her cursed romanticism, a feeling which is present in most of if not all her tracks.

There’s random noises in the background as usual, but I think they work in her music, giving the song a more gritty feel and a sense of depth, despite being seemingly meaning. I’m a little bit unsure as to whether Lana could fill a fifteen track album with songs which seem so similar and still make it an enjoyable record from start to finish, but hopefully she’ll pull it off come January 30.

Lana Del Rey // Born To Die

Fresh off its premiere on Fearne Cotton’s show and an interesting audio clip on youtube, here’s Lana Del Rey’s second single, ‘Born To Die’, from her upcoming debut album of the same name.

The follow up to ‘Video Games’ retains Lana’s 50s kitsch sound, adding an almost industrial, trip-hop beat into the mix, which gives the song a little more drive than the former song. Combined with strings which wrap themselves Lana’s husky voice, this song is intense. And with lines such as “let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain, you like your girls insane” and “you and I, we were born to die,” the lyrics are definitely just as cutting.

Following up a song with as much buzz as ‘Video Games’ is certainly a task, but Lana Del Rey’s done a pretty good amazing job at it. ‘Born To Die’ is enchanting. It has a mood about it which just sends chills up my spine. With an atmosphere like that I might just end up preferring it to ‘Video Games’.

Lana Del Rey’s album cover for ‘Born To Die’ is stunning, right?

Kasabian // Video Games (Radio 1 Live Lounge Cover)

With ‘Video Games’ getting so much attention, yet another band have put their own spin on the song. Kasabian aren’t even the first band to cover the song in the live lounge, with Bombay Bicycle Club doing a rendition of the track last week.

Luckily Kasabian didn’t let us down, giving us a version of the track not too disimilar to the original. The harp has been swapped for piano, while the strings have become acoustic - however apart from that the song has been delivered in a fashion very similar to Lana Del Rey’s. While the cover is doesn’t exactly do anything groundbreaking with the song, it’s nice to hear male vocals over a track which relied so heavily on them.

This performance shows that the band can excel live, even when they are performing a more restrained track. So give it a listen and let me know what you think.

Lana Del Rey // Video Games [Jamie Woon Remix]

Here’s a remix of Lana Del Rey’s ‘Video Games’ from one of the UK’s top newcomers of late, Jamie Woon.

With a lot of bass, pitch dropping and sampling going on, Jamie has completely changed the atmosphere of this song. With it’s dubstep and soul influences, the remix ends up being a lot colder than the original. That’s no bad thing though, so check it out.

Lana Del Ray // Blue Jeans

This girl really is something, isn’t she? She’s one of the rare cases when the music actually lives up to the hype. Heck, ‘Blue Jeans’ is only a b-side, yet it’s just as good as her debut single ‘Video Games’.

The retro, western tinged ballad is an ode to a crappy lover of Lana’s. Her tone insincerely tells us that she’ll ‘love him to the end of time’ throughout the song which ever so slightly builds up to a slightly elevated final chorus.

I’m not quite sure what’s so good about this song. She sure has a striking voice, but I think it’s the atmosphere the song creates that really makes it.