The stage name Lana Del Rey—adopted by singer-songwriter Elizabeth Grant—sounds like it came straight from the era of Old Hollywood, akin to names like Audrey or Marilyn. The 25 year-old New Yorker flaunts a retro-noir sophistication not only in her appearance (a kind of pre-feminist Americana) but in her latest self-titled EP as well.
Del Rey was virtually unknown outside the music blogosphere this time last year until she released the now highly acclaimed single “Video Games”. Her four-song EP opens with this tender ballad about a passionate woman clinging to a lousy lover. With a tone of consent thinly veiled with sadness, Del Rey passively tells her boyish beau to, “go play a video game.” The song consists of haunting melodies and an intentionally sluggish tempo, as if to accentuate the morbidity of unreciprocated love.
This somber quality is consistent throughout the EP; yet, no matter how authentic Del Rey appears through her storytelling, she maintains her glamour-laden mystique. In “Off to the Races” Del Rey says of her beloved, “Likes to watch me in the glass room bathroom, Chateau Marmont / Slippin’ on my red dress, puttin’ on my makeup.” The most riveting moment of the EP comes at the bridge of this song when Del Rey ventures away from her low-pitched tone and spiritedly sings in falsetto.
Del Rey is set to release her full-length debut album on January 31st on Interscope. Her eerily nostalgic appeal should lead to continued success in 2012.
