Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass - Lana Del Rey: Review
is a California based pop singer who needs no introduction at this point. After a decade of critically acclaimed and commercially successful pop records she continued to push her sound to even greater heights on her most acclaimed release to date, last years Norman Fucking Rockwell. Now she is reaching into a new venture entirely releasing a book of poems paired with spoken word recordings of her readings backed by compositions from frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff.
Review By Lavender:
Of the 200+ albums and EP's that I heard in 2019 I only rated one of them a 10/10. Norman Fucking Rockwell was an obvious shoe in choice for my album of the year last year and that meant that whatever Lana was going to do next I would be looking forward to it. Even after getting into some hot water over word choice regarding double standards in the music industry earlier this year she delivered on a promise that raised the eyebrows of many pop fans when she first made it last year, a spoken word poetry album. While she has only released the pyisical book and Audiobook versions with CD's and vinyls coming later this year I wasn't going to wait around to review the music then. I'm glad I got Violet when I did because while she is taking a different approach here, the same Lana we know and love shines throughout the record.
I wasn't really sure what to expect from Violet so we're jumping into the review with just as much context. The opener LA Who Am I To Love You is a jagged tribute to LA that only Lana could have made. Her emotive vocals match perfectly with her unconventional and decisively un-poetic flow. The lyrics are also excellent as they highlight one gem of a line after another with Lana wearing her heart on her sleeve in an entirely new way. The Land of 1000 Fires follows this and isn't quite as wonderful. It's a slower track with a more calculated pace and delivery. The instrumentation is strangely alien and it only matches the song once Lana starts delivering spacey visualizations in the second half. The song makes love out to me some kind of surreal otherworldly sensation and I like the metaphor quite a bit.
The next four tracks are all shorter songs at or under two minutes and they are a bit of a mixed bag. Past The Brushes Cypress Thriving is the best of the bunch with songwriting that rolls off the tongue as beautifully as any poem in this style I've ever heard. The flow is flawless and I think the short track length is necessary to keep up the spectacular pacing and performance. The title track Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass gives some context to the albums title and while I'm not exactly sure what the true explanation is for the conclusions Lana reaches on the song it doesn't really stick around long enough for me to find out. Never To Heaven is the least conventionally musical of all the songs here and while there is some effective songwriting and rich metaphors I can't help but with there was a bit more recognizable flow. Finally Salamander is the only song here that I have to say is a bit much. With the instrumental and hammed up metaphors I think this song is what the entire album must sound like to people who already decided they were going to hate it before it even came out.
Thankfully these songs are followed by the albums best moment by far, a song that blew me away when I first heard it and I haven't been able to get enough of since. At 6 minutes SportCruiser is an excellent song that has some layers to it. It starts off with Lana narrowly looking in herself primarily through her own feelings towards herself. She dials this narrative back into a story about taking pilot lessons that serve as a metaphor for her to realize her self doubt. After this passage we get an even deeper pull back as Lana tries to learn sailing, already set up by the nature of her experiences flying. As she tries to feel which direction the wind is coming from the incident teaches her that what she believes is a lack of self trust is just a lack of meaningful experience and shows her a set way forward. The instrumental, the lyrics and the performance are all absolutely beautiful and the result is a masterpiece.
After this there is another series of shorter songs that aren't particularly my favorite. Tessa DiPietro is an inherently poetic encounter with a healer that seems to be focused more on a lyrical type flow in Lana's delivery rather than the actual words themselves which are quite literal. Even though I'm not sure the advice she is given is all that effective I can't help but love the tie-ins to Jim Morrison. Quiet Waiter - Blue Forever is a short and literal piece that doesn't do a whole lot for me and is so short that I don't really have all the much to say about it anyway. What Happened When I Left You is a short but very sweet tune with songwriting highlights that I wish stuck around longer and made for a bit more of a memorable piece.
The record ends off on a run of four great tracks starting with Happy which sees Lana making snappy comparisons between being monetarily rich and rich in spirit love and friendship. The song is one of the most beautiful emotional punches the record pulls on you. My Bedroom Is A Sacred Place Now - There Are Children At The Foot Of My Bed is a song that's just Lana Del Rey as fuck. From the toxic relationships to the girlish imagery and dependence on substances it is familiar territory. Weirdly enough it feels like a moment of maturity beyond these things as she transitions beyond them and replace them with children and poetry which makes for a kind of beautiful conclusion.
Paradise Is Very Fragile is a track that deals with the literal breaking down of places in both Florida and LA before taking to politics and the entire US. I actually admire her sentiment for improvement which makes the fact that the world has been such a let down recently all the more impactful when she is forced to admit it. Bare Feet On Linoleum is a killer closing track that opens up with some overlapping vocal collage that is dizzying. Much to my surprise this persists while Lana delivers her lyrics and even includes some jittery strings in the instrumental underneath. It creates a driving sense of impending doom that lasts until the records very last second for a perfect closing moment.
Violent Bent Backwards Over The Grass is a brand new avenue for Lana Del Rey but so much of what has always made her music great translates here, The attention to songwriting pays off big time as Lana's words live up to everything they were billed to be. With subtle but effective instrumentation working in and out of these tracks and Antonoff proving once again that his production is perfect for Lana these songs pop from start to finish. While it may take some adjustment at first particularly from those who like to live in the world of pop music exclusively the attention to detail is here to make this one of the most engaging and compellingly indulgent albums you'll hear in 2020. 8/10
Album Cover Review By Tyler Judson:
I'm oddly drawn to this cover. The composition isn't anything spectacular but the colors are striking and the imagery is instantly recognizable. I like the placement of the text but think it could've used a little more boldness to keep from blending in so much but it's a small detail. 5.5/10
For more pop check out my review of Taylor Swift's folklore here
