Lana Del Rey’s career skyrocketed with her 2012 release, “Born to Die,” where she wrote songs of love, heartbreak and alcohol addiction at an early age. The album had strong hip-hop influence in its quick-tempo production and moments of rap from Del Rey on songs like “National Anthem” and “Diet Mountain Dew.” While her latest record, “Ultraviolence,” doesn’t vary much in lyrical content, it is a bigger, more cinematic experience than her previous effort thanks to the change in production and attention to Del Rey’s voice.
The new album’s first four tracks take more than 22-and-a-half minutes to complete, but Del Rey’s vocals aren’t rushed, and the pain and beauty in her voice can lay out over the background production (“Shades of Cool” and “Ultraviolence”). There isn’t much hip-hop influence in the album, with the exception of “West Coast,” and Del Rey takes on a heavier soul/blues angle to the way she sings her songs (evident on the album’s final song, “The Other Woman,” a Nina Simone cover), which allows for her painstakingly beautiful voice to shine through. Rather than catch up with the music, she displays her emotions of love, backstabbing and heartbreak over the music without sounding hurried, which is heavily influenced by the main producer of the album, Dan Auerbach, who is the lead singer of the blues rock band The Black Keys. “Ultraviolence” doesn’t have many up-tempo moments — most of “Born to Die” was quick in tempo with the exception of “Video Games” and “Radio” — but Del Rey’s drawn out, cinematic vocals sound better over the slower-paced, rock/jazz production.
On “Pretty When You Cry,” Del Rey sings with a soft voice, “All those little times you said that I’m your girl, you make me feel like your whole world,” before the spacious guitars and slow-paced drums allow her to belt, “I’m pretty when I cry,” speaking to her lover’s enjoyment of seeing her cry. Lyrics like this are much more difficult to swallow when they’re repeated over choruses and guitar solos rather than cut off by another verse.
“Ultraviolence” is far more intriguing sonically than “Born to Die,” which allows the lyrics to stand out more than the upbeat and, at times, fun production on her previous album. It’s never easy to listen to people unleash their emotions (unless your Del Rey’s lover from “Pretty When You Cry”), and “Ultraviolence” doesn’t make it any easier. But as an artist, Del Rey improved in her delivery and sound from her previous record and made “Ultraviolence” a beautiful record to listen to.
[A version of this story ran on page 8 on 6/19/2014 under the headline "Lana Del Rey’s voice is the star on her cinematic new album"]
