Lana Del Ray - Blue Banisters
by Zena Grieg
published: 8 / 12 / 2021

Label:
Universal Music
Format: Select Format
intro
Reflective and stripped back new album, her second this year, from bestselling American singer-songwriter Lana del Ray
The latest album of American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey has just been released. Her second album release in 2021, following the critically acclaimed ‘Chemtrails Over The Country Club’, ‘Blue Banisters’ is a fifteen-track musical autobiography weaving friendships, family relationships, love affairs together, the colour blue a recurring image throughout. As Del Rey herself said in this eighth album, “I am writing my own story... and no one can tell it but me.” Highlights include: the moody, atmospheric opener, the intricate ‘Textbook’, referencing a Black Lives Matter protest; the plaintive title track celebrating female friendship and solidarity through heartache; the single and video ‘Arcadia’ with its string and trumpet accompaniment; the ballad ‘Violets for Roses’ with its assertive, resilient lyrics: “Ever since I fell out of love with you, I fell back in love with me.” Also, the jazzy ‘Dealer’ with its fresh change of pace in a ballad-dominated collection and its acerbic lyrics: “I don’t wanna live/I don’t want to give you nothing/’Cause you never give me nothing back”; the soulful ‘Thunder’ about a dissolving relationship; the hypnotic ‘Wildflower Wildfire’; and the stripped-back closer ‘Sweet Carolina’ with its cascading keys, written for her sister Caroline who was about to give birth. Pared back, reflective, audibly rawer than her last album and arguably her most personal album to date, ‘Blue Banisters’ is a clear and incisive riposte to negative criticism Del Rey has faced on issues from her approach to feminism to her choice in face masks. This new album marks a confident change in direction for this forthright musician.
Track Listing:-
1 Text Book2 Blue Banisters
3 Arcadia
4 Interlude - The Trio
5 Black Bathing Suit
6 If You Lie Down With Me
7 Beautiful
8 Violets for Roses
9 Dealer
10 Thunder
Band Links:-
https://www.lanadelrey.com/https://www.facebook.com/lanadelray
Label Links:-
http://www.umusic.co.uk/http://www.universalmusic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/UniversalMusicGroup
https://twitter.com/umg
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