Album Review: Honeymoon

Picture courtesy of consequenceofsound.net 

As a fan of Lana Del Rey since she released her first album in 2012, I had been greatly anticipating her newest release, “Honeymoon”. The album came out on Sept. 18, and although it’s not my favorite album yet, it does exceed the expectations I had.

A friend had raved about the album earlier that week, and, insisting that I needed to hear it, given me a copy of the album. I had anticipated another record full of depressing, slow songs, and for the most part, that is what I got. Similar to her previous works, “Honeymoon” includes themes of love and passion, although her songs are anything but romantic. The album opens by describing an almost tortured love in the song, “Honeymoon”: “We both know that it’s not fashionable to love me/ But you don’t go ‘cause truly there’s nobody for you but me.”

From there, Del Rey continues to sing of violence and heartbreak in a mesmerizing, serene tone. Her songs seem to take you back to a time of red Corvette convertibles and old Hollywood.

However, unlike her first album, “Born to Die”, this one doesn’t have any songs that I can listen on its own. The whole record seems to be a collection of songs that have a similarly depressing sound and mood.

Everyone of her previous albums to be Del Rey accepting a self-destructive state. However the new album poses this in a more mature way. Her voice is wiser and she seems less hopeful.

This is the album playing through the speakers of our old Toyota as my sister and I drive home from school, windows down. It transports us to a rocky beach on a bitter cold fall day.

However, the record explores a more pop-like sound in my favorite song, “High By The Beach.” The addicting track describes someone who is difficult to be with, as Del Rey sings, “Loving you is hard, being here is harder” and in the next line, “I don’t wanna do this anymore, it’s so surreal/ I can’t survive if this is all that’s real.”

This song is perhaps my favorite because it is similar to her best album, “Born To Die.” They both highlight the dark sides of relationships and love with an oddly carefree tone.

If you only have five minutes (instead of the hour the album lasts), “Music To Watch Boys To” is definitely the track to listen to. This song wraps up the whole album and reminds me of why I fell in love with Del Rey in the first place. In usually Del Rey fashion, it presents a naive subject laced with deeper meaning and a little bit of unease.
This album is not one to miss, after all, it is already featured in at least three of my most recent Spotify playlists.

Check out this podcast to find out student’s opinions on the album.