“Honeymoon” by Lana Del Rey
Lana Del Rey is a woman scorned…and hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Honeymoon, her third studio album, shows the inner struggle that anyone who’s experienced a failed love can attest to. Del Rey rises from the ashes with her velvety croon to create arguably her most mature LP yet.
She explores the stages of grief that come with being tragically in love, but knowing that it’s not the right thing. “God Knows I Tried,” seamlessly leads into “High By The Beach,” the former showing a desperate and sad girl that wishes she could’ve made something work and the latter is her lyrical middle finger to her failed love, almost a ‘forget what I said before because I’d rather be alone,’ sentiment.
“Honeymoon,” maintains her old Hollywood, cinematic style with a slow string arrangement. Her R&B influences are apparent in songs like “Freak,” and “High By The Beach.” Although she maintains her elusive and mysterious persona throughout Honeymoon, she could afford to be more daring stylistically. In “Money Power Glory,” on Ultraviolence, she tests her slow, sweet voice with bolder vocals; this would have added an element that Honeymoon seems to lack.
Del Rey sprinkles pop culture throughout; notably she calls out David Bowie’s “Major Tom,” recites a T.S. Eliot poem, references Robert Frost and closes with a Nina Simone cover. Blue is also a theme of the album. She mentions the word in several if not all of the songs, noting it as her favorite color, state of being and song style.
Whether she is blissful with an eternal love at her side or high by the beach with only the solace of her thoughts, this album proves that Lana can create beautiful music in whatever mental state she is in. “We both know that it’s not fashionable to love me…” On the contrary, Ms. Del Rey, it’s the most fashionable thing we can do. »
– Erin Treat
