Lana Del Rey Returns With Her Classic Sound In "Lust For Life"

If anyone has mastered the distant yet emotional alternative pop sound like Lana Del Rey has. Her cult following worships her and her music that'll never fail to hit a soft spot somewhere if you listen deeply enough. Lana Del Rey returns with her classic sound in Lust For Life, her long awaited follow up to 2015's Honeymoon.

For a lot of this album, you're really dealing with the classic sounds that made her so iconic. The first few tracks are really everything that defines her; the slow ballad 'Love' introduces the album, its sluggish instrumental following the waving vocals Lana delivers, though it could've used a bit more action in the sonic soundscape by the end. 'Lust For Life' continues on, The Weeknd adding vocals to the track, it's smooth textures still making you wish there was a little more in the instrumental. The bridge is a little weird, but in the classic Lana Del Rey way. '13 Beaches' continues further on with nice melodies but again no excitement.

That's really the summation of Lust For Life: nice melodies with some generally uninteresting instrumentals. 'Cherry' is a song that really makes the subtlety work out, without much dynamic change in the vocals making it all tie together nicely. 'Change,' towards the end of the record, is a drawn out piano ballad that also works well with her style. There are a bunch of times where things don't work, such as A$AP Rocky and Playboi Carti on 'Summer Bummer.' It just doesn't sound right in the context of the record. When Lana sings "now that I'm singing with Sean" on 'Tomorrow Never Came' with Sean Ono Lennon, it just really feels out of place and throws the entire thing off.

Lana Del Rey returns with her classic sound in Lust For Life, bringing her moody voice to her laidback soundscapes once again. Many fans will be pleased, but some may find it a bit boring. Regardless, it's Lana doing what Lana does, and that's all that some will want.

Favorite Tracks: Change, Cherry

Least Favorite Tracks: Summer Bummer, Tomorrow Never Came

Rating: 75 / 100

Stream or buy Lust For Life on Apple Music: