Lana Del Rey -‘Ultraviolence.’ (Polydor)

Somehow, sitting down to review the new Lana Del Rey album fills with me with trepidation. It seems that somehow there’s so much baggage amongst reviewers due to the coverage that trying to approach this album at face value is something that many don’t want to do. So to hell with all the other coverage and what has been written about her, is the album actually any good?

Well, assuming this isn’t failing at the first hurdle, it compares fairly favourably to her breakthrough record, Born To Die. Favourably in the sense that if you liked that album – and I did – then the chances are you will like this one. It isn’t much of an advance, but then if you’ve heard ‘Shades of Cool’ and ‘West Coast’ which were doing the rounds ahead of the album, you were quite reasonable to assume that she wasn’t going to start sounding like Peaches or Lydia Lunch.

Having listened to this album, it is a bit of a grower. Her voice is as haunting as it was, but if you check out both album opener ‘Cruel World’ and ‘Black Beauty’ then the album starts to make sense on its own terms. If you can get away from whatever is being written about her this week, then there’s some great bits on this album. No, it won’t change your life, but she’s proved she’s no one hit wonder, either…

***1/2

Ultraviolence is out now on Polydor