LANA DEL REY FAIRY TALE

Once upon a time a girl name Elizabeth Grant tried to be a successful singer, but failed. Years later, we see on Youtube this unknown long haired young woman with sensual lips  singing ‘’Videogames’’ and we instantly remember her name: Lana Del Rey. Oh, but that's not her real name, is it? Her real name is Lizzy-something-Grant! Is she faking her emotions too? Is Lana Del Rey even real?

Lana Del Rey aka Lizzy Grant is very real and today even more successful since the release of ‘’Video games’’. As we can tell, she’s not an actress; she’s an introverted musician with songs of an extraordinary quality. She dares to expose her melancholy and the most intense emotions which bring a certain note of dark romance to her sound. She seduces and then withdraws into her own world. She doesn't shy away from her dreams and aspirations in her music, and to everyone who thinks she sings about depression, I say she celebrates the deepest aspects of life.

One could describe Lana’s music as a mixture of the opposites: paradise and hell, romance and hedonism, life and death, wild and peaceful, beautiful and ugly, sinner and saint, artificial and real, crazy and sane, superficial and deep. Even her voice surprisingly changes from high to low. Maybe that’s why some people just can’t take her public image seriously being accustomed to more definable musical and artistic expressions.

It’s not unusual for Lana to refer directly to her musical and stylistic influences and inspirations. She has evoked and praised Jim Morrison, Guns n’ Roses, Elvis Presley, Leonard Cohen, James Dean, Hunter S. Thompson, Walt Whitman, Marilyn Monroe, Bruce Springsteen, Nancy Sinatra, John F. Kennedy…What she praises the most is not the American glamorous lifestyle of the 50's and 60's or rock n roll.  it’s the true love, beauty and freedom of the human spirit she is questioning and searching for. The rest is her artistic expression of the eternal quest.

Her videos are not quite like all the other videos you see playing on MTV. They always have this unusual dreamlike atmosphere, maybe because of the self-production, lack of colours, vintage effect, or simply because of Lana. She also prefers unconventional models in her videos (considering commercial criteria). Bradley Soileau for example,  a model who has appeared in three of her videos: ‘’Born to die’’, ‘’Blue jeans’’ and ‘’West coast’', very dear to all Lana's fans (and very hot, too.)

While so many commercially recognized and successful musicians trivialize life and show zero artistic sensibility, with their strictly materialistic approach to music, we have this girl who does the opposite: keeps her life private but gives away all of her energy to produce unique surreal sound that has no expiration date, and being visually outstanding, she has finally found a place in the industry that had rejected her before. 

Whether she's a well planned project or just one lucky talented girl, or even both, today's music needs Lana Del Rey. It needs her bold persona, her vintage femininity, her spiritual touch, and her sensual rebellion. And that’s what you’ll get with her latest album ‘’Ultraviolence’’. 

Thanks to Lana, romance is back in fashion and it's not a fairy tale  for kids any more. It's a dare.

“Who are you?
Are you in touch with all of your darkest fantasies?
Have you created a life for yourself where you can experience them?
I have. I am fucking crazy.
But I am free.”  

Lana Del Rey, ''Ride''

A.B.

Love, A & M