Lana Del Rey, review: compelling stuff from a maturing artist

Lana enchants with sepia-toned balladry and a dose of politics
Lana Del Rey: gratuitously glum?
STEVE GILLETT
Rick Pearson20 November 2017

Lana Del Rey hit the headlines this week after claiming to have put a hex on Donald Trump. She cast a very different spell over Brixton Academy, enchanting the crowd with her cinematic, sepia-toned balladry.

Having spent the majority of her career fixating on Fifties America, the former Lizzy Grant has changed tack on her latest album.

In Lust For Life, released last Friday, she takes a turn for the political, addressing war, feminism and Trump-era America.

She is accompanied by everyone from The Weeknd to Stevie Nicks and it’s her biggest, boldest and best record to date — so there was a genuine sense of excitement inside Brixton Academy for this one-off London show.

In front of a crowd that included Florence Welch, the 32-year-old New Yorker, pictured, began with Cruel World, accompanied by a four-piece band, two dancers and the 5,000 fans on backing vocals.

New song Cherry told of love gone sour, while Blue Jeans was a glacial ballad about Mr Wrong. So far, so familiar.

Yet last night was not without its surprises. New song Love was performed a cappella, Del Rey proving that behind the style and posturing she has a brilliant voice.

Latest music reviews

1/168

Elsewhere, Video Games, the song that propelled Del Rey to superstardom, came with a revelation: “When I play this song, I always think of London, possibly because I wrote it here.”

During the most melancholic moments — Born To Die, Ultraviolence, Summertime Sadness — Del Rey could feel gratuitously glum, while the one-paced nature of the set caused it at times to drag.

On the whole, though, this was compelling stuff from an artist who is maturing, cheering up and sounding better than ever.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in