Blue Banisters - Lana Del Rey: Review
Lana Del Rey
is a pop star who really needs no introduction. Occasionally controversial but beloved by tons of dedicated fans Lana is entering a prolific streak in her career with this being her 3rd studio album in the last 3 years, which also featured the release of a spoken word poetry album last year. Blue Banisters follows Chemtrails Over The Country Club and 4 singles earlier this year and features tracks that date all the way back to her early career.
Review By Lav:
I am incapable of hiding my love for Lana Del Rey's music, the numbers just speak for themselves. I've been a vocal fan of her first two records Born To Die and Ultraviolence then once I started reviewing albums I had nothing but more praise first for Lust For Life and then dropping a 10/10 review for her 2019 masterpiece Norman Fucking Rockwell. I even ended up enjoying the spoken word poetry album she followed it up with, if you're a Lana fan and you've never heard Sportcruiser do your self a favor and find any way you can to indulge. She's been busy this year as well with a number of singles and now two full studio albums. While Blue Banisters contains all of the hallmarks of a great Lana record the 60 minute runtime is far from tight and the back half of the record seems content to just throw up old songs that don't really fit in and come with wide variation in quality.
The first taste we got of the record came in the form of a trio of singles released earlier this year simultaneously. While I wasn't head over heels with the trio initially I've come to appreciate them all in at least some capacity. Text Book serves as the records slow burning but ultimately very satisfying opener that floats between musical passages with Lana's trademark beauty. The gentle strings are a great pairing and the hook is surprisingly catchy and while a lot has been made of her "black lives matter" refence I ultimately understand what she was going for even if the execution was weird.
The title track Blue Banisters was my least favorite of the initial run of singles but it's nuance has grown on me slightly. Lana's vocals are genuinely in control of every part of the song and she leads it on a poetic rise on the hook. I think the weakest part of the song is her insistence on repeated references to her personal life that can be pretty indulgent if you aren't a super fan. Wildflower Wildfire was and still is my favorite of the trio and it really only takes a few seconds to remember why. When it switches pace to one of the records most intimate hooks it gets stuck in my head all over again and I think when all is said and done it's one of the best songs here.
The record continues a line of artistic progression that Lana has been going in since all the way back in 2015. While she's never abandoned her pop sentimentalities she is leaning in more and more to a Joni Mitchell inspired singer-songwriter approach to her records. There are many great tracks particularly on the first half of the record that see her executing this balance perfectly. Arcadia was released as a single a few weeks ago and it's the one that really got me excited for the record. It reminds me of some songs from the second half of NFR as it invokes Americana themes as a romanticized relief from a dark moment in her life. it's the kind of symbolism she has down to a science and executes it perfectly alongside the tracks lush instrumentation.
Black Bathing Suit is a linear but extremely infectious takedown of all those people who came at Lana for allegedly gaining weight during the pandemic. The level of cool in her delivery is just overflowing as she tosses off haters without even trying and never coming off as the slightest bit bitter or resentful. It has a sexy veneer and confident undertones that make it soar both musically and thematically. The back end of the song sees Lana stretching her vocals even further with some call and response singing that sees her straining her voice with palpable anguish that has grown on me a ton. Violets For Roses is a Star Is Born style track where Lana's romantic interest is trying to get in the way of her achieving her creative goals. I love the metaphor the song is built around even if I can't think of any good reason why someone wouldn't want to trade violets for roses, the GOAT flower. Regardless it's another slow building his that flexes Lana's songwriting ability over a stark piano instrumental.
There's another pair of highlights later on the record which both come from a scrapped collaboration album between Lana and The Last Shadow Puppets, the side project of Miles Kane and Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner. Dealer is a smoky duet between Lana and Miles where she is absolutely belting during her parts of the track in pretty stark contrast to Miles' nasally and reserved singing. Both his verse and Lana's hook are soaked in resentment regardless. It's one of the hardest tracks on the record to really pin down but I find it absolutely fascinating and I'm not surprised it's become an immediate fan favorite. Thunder comes next and speaking of resentful relationship songs this track uses the simile of rolling like thunder to describe a man that Lana knows is planning on leaving her. The gentle sonic approach doesn't take away from the tracks pointed lyricism and the hazy spoken word that closes it off is just icing on the cake.
There are a handful of just okay songs in the mix, Beautiful features some plonky instrumentation but has tons of lyrical intrigue, while Cherry Blossom is one of the only older songs on the records second half that I really enjoy. If You Lie Down With Me aims for another swaying hook but I don't find it nearly as compelling as other songs here. I also think the instrumental progression just isn't that exciting even when the horns come in on the finale it just feels dry. Similarly Sweet Carolina is a bit of an instrumental letdown and a meek conclusion to the album. Even though it has some pretty vocal harmonies and a sweet sentiment it certainly doesn't feel thematically conclusive.
One of my only disappointments on the record is that a number of its tracks seem like they don't belong and are clearly just tracks Lana has had floating around for a while and hasn't been able to find a home for that were tacked onto this record. Nectar Of The Gods goes all the way back to 2014 and while I do love her breathy vocals on the track I can't help but wish there was anything compelling going on in the instrumental. The plucky instrumentation doesn't do her high notes justice. Finally there's Living Legend a track that I've heard Lana fans whispering about for a very long time and while the sentiment behind it is wonderfully honest and personal I'm not sure the actual song itself is all it's billed up to be. The first half of the song is certainly on the slower side and while I'm normally a big fan of Lana pouring her heart out vocally I can't say the distorted, shouting vocals on the bridge are all that compelling.
Blue Banisters is a good album but it is far from the best work Lana has to offer. In terms of consistency and execution it's much more Honeymoon or Lust For Life than it is Born To Die or Norman Fucking Rockwell. While her continued pursuit of slower developing and more instrumentally stark songs does spawn a few truly great moments, it doesn't hold up for the records entire 60 minute runtime. The biggest thing I can't get over on the record is just how little these songs have to do with each other thematically after an entire career of very defined and cohesive eras from Lana thus far. While the explanation is obvious it feels like she could have made a perfectly acceptable and even great entry into her discography by just trimming some of these unnecessary song from the tracklist and making a more direct interpretation of what makes the record unique in her musical universe. 7/10
Another addition to the series of covers that could've been made in picsart. While this image is better than any of the other released the composition is strange. The gap at the bottom is annoying because it should match at the top and while the text is okay there's nothing exciting about this and I feel like the quality in aesthetics from Norman Fucking Rockwell has been going down. 4/10
For more stark pop music check out my review of Kacey Musgrave's star-crossed here
