LUST FOR LIFE
Interscope Records
Dream Pop, Alternative R&B
Listening Format: CD
I'm not going to lie, when I first looked at the album sleeve (she's... Smiling!?) and the tracklist for this album, my first thought was "oh lord... This is gonna suck, this is gonna suck so hard!" The thought of Lana Del Rey pairing up with A$AP Rocky and The Weeknd felt so benign to me. And the reason I made this assumption is because I enjoyed her last album 'Honeymoon' so much. I always think of Lana Del Rey as being a forward thinking Pop singer and musician. Many of the artistic decisions she has made in the last few years have set such a high standard compared to most of her peers. Just about EVERY Pop artist, male or female, these days are cramming their albums with unnecessary guest rappers, and Trap influenced R&B beats, because it is trendy and it boosts sales. I've always thought of Lana Del Rey to be outside of doing what is considered "trendy". The more she sings over these earthy, string-laden, dreamy soundscapes the better she sounds. In return, by avoiding doing what all of her peers are doing, she ended up being a trend-setter in her own right.
With this being the case it was very much wrong of me to make the assumption that 'Lust For Life' would suck, especially coming off of 'Honeymoon', which I feel was her best and most accomplished full length yet. I guess I looked at that tracklist, the featuring and producer list, and hit the panic button, assuming she was about to undo exactly what makes her stand out so well. So how DOES the album fare?
Right off the bat, Lana Del Rey is sounding in fantastic form. 'Love' is a huge track to open with. Her voice is just sounding better and better with each release, and she absolutely soars across the chorus. Title track and single 'Lust For Life' is utterly sublime... The production on this track from Max Martin is outstanding. It captures that Twin Peaks Dream Pop style perfectly. There is a definite throwback to the '50s Spector girl group sound in the verses, and then the knockout "Take off all your clothes" chorus with The Weeknd is one of the most majestic things you'll hear all year. The way the two vocals combine is magical and the song is utterly catchy. It's goes from sounding nostalgic to cutting edge and modern all in just a verse to chorus transition. Without a doubt one of the best Lana Del Rey songs ever.
Though 'Lust For Life' starts incredibly strongly, we are still talking about a 70 minute long opus here. In the middle stretch of the album we start to hear the Trap beats coming into the production, though thankfully they are mixed fairly low. That earthy Dream Pop sound still manages to be a dominant force, and the use of strings and moody suspended chord synths absolutely still shine through, along with Del Rey's powerful, diverse and haunting vocal delivery. The two songs that I feared featuring A$AP Rocky are lumped together. 'Summer Bummer' is actually a good song in it's own right, and just about manages to fit within the flow of the album, but 'Groupie Love' is a particular lowlight. It feels more like an A$AP Rocky song where Lana Del Rey is the guest on the track. Admittedly, I expected much worse from these two tracks, but they do sort of work in the context of this album. I do get that such a long album needs to throw in some curveballs to keep things interesting, so it just about gets a pass from me. Sadly though, the album is rather front loaded. The last twenty minutes in particular does start to run out of steam. Even though the Stevie Nicks and Sean Ono Lennon collaborations appear, I feel like most of the best ideas had already been spent by this point.
Ultimately, when it comes to listening to Lana Del Rey, I like her to be selfish. I genuinely think she is at her best when she does her own thing, singing her heart out over nostalgic, dreamy ballads. I have to wonder whether it was her decision to bring in Trap beats, guest rappers and features, or is it a product of being on a major label? Regardless, she has still managed to turn out a mostly very strong album. I don't think A$AP Rocky gelled with her at all, but it was nowhere near a disaster like I had wrongly assumed. And the duet with The Weeknd is absolutely inspired. In fact in many spots on this album, Lana Del Rey sounds at the top of her game. I think this is her best vocal performance to date, and in terms of writing and production, she still stands miles ahead of other Pop vocalists. She can genuinely go toe to toe with the likes of Beyonce, Rihanna, Sia and Katy Perry, and often come out as the most forward thinking and interesting to listen to. Personally I think the 'Paradise' EP she released back in 2012 is her most groundbreaking release that just felt 100% Lana, but 'Lust For Life', whilst flawed, is still a very strong release that far exceeded my expectations. 7/10.
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