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‘Honeymoon’ album review

Hannah Manning
Connector Contributor

After a few months of dropping individual songs, opening a telephone hotline, and releasing a polarizing music video, Lana Del Rey finally released her third studio album, “Honeymoon,” on Friday, Sept. 19.

Del Rey has pulled out all stops for this release. She released the audio for “Honeymoon,” the title track, on YouTube two months ago with no warning. Interestingly, “Honeymoon” was only available for purchase after Del Rey released “High By The Beach” and “Terrence Loves You.” Del Rey has only provided a music video for “High By The Beach,” in which she lounges about a beach house being observed by a single black helicopter. Perhaps the most eccentric feature of Del Rey’s ad campaign is The Honeymoon Hotline, which can be reached by dialing the number found on the cover of the album. It opens with Lana reciting the poem “Burnt Norton” by T.S. Eliot, and by dialing either three or four, the listener can hear a lecture by theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss or a TED Talk by Elon Musk.

“Honeymoon” is Del Rey coming into her own as an artist. While rumors swirled that the sound would be reminiscent of “Born To Die,” her first release, “Honeymoon” is Lana, phase three. She has embraced her role as a mysterious performer with a low, low voice, but she infuses this image with existential queries and the evolution of her style from “gangsta Nancy Sinatra” to Lana Del Rey. Her fascination with the theoretical seems absurd at first, but she may be playing with our perception of pretty girls with pretty voices. We cannot be sure where Del Ray the concept ends and Del Ray the person begins, which only adds to her mystique. Her persona is intricately crafted, and it shines on this record.

The album plays with the theme of loss and methods of dealing with it. These usually tend towards self-destruction, as heard in “Terrence Loves You,” wherein Del Rey confesses that “I lost myself, when I lost you. And I still get trashed, darling, when I hear your tunes.” Her identity is tied up in the person she was with, regrettably, and yet she stays loyal and sings her songs. This theme is present through most of her music: the sad, beautiful girl left behind by the free-spirited man.

An interesting thing to note about “Honeymoon” is Del Rey’s fixation on reputation and on fame, particularly how she has achieved it and how she finds that it is not what she wanted. “God Knows I Tried” is an emotional plea for forgiveness and to be freed from her life and those who constantly tear her down — namely, the press. “I feel free when I see no one and nobody knows my name” speaks for itself.

“Honeymoon” features many individual songs that are excellent on their own, but it is clearly an album to be played straight through. The transitions between songs are seamless. This is to be expected from Del Rey, who has made music that only becomes more lush and meticulous with each new release. She has mastered the art of composing a song focusing on loss/identity/ennui with an enticing beat that somehow utilizes strings in a way that sounds like no other music being released right now. Del Rey’s music cannot be categorized.

Del Rey has released one the most unique albums of this year with “Honeymoon.” She sings of debauchery and loss, of not caring at all and caring too much, and of love everlasting and destructive. Her most personal album yet, it is an emotional look into a woman who has achieved all that she’s ever wanted, at the cost of all of the little things that she used to enjoy. “Honeymoon” aims to refresh the public image of Del Rey, who has been dismissed as a poor performer and a fluke. It is significant that she closes out the album with a cover by her idol Nina Simone, and that the last words be “I try so hard, don’t let me be misunderstood.”

Hannah Manning

Hannah Manning is the Editor in Chief of the UMass Lowell Connector. A native of Haverhill, Mass., she is a senior working towards her bachelor's in English with a concentration in journalism and professional writing. She likes hockey, music and her fellow staff members at the Connector.

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