When a couple goes on their honeymoon, they often take a step back from reality. Lana Del Rey, however, has literally gone to another planet. After months of hype for her new album, “Honeymoon” has finally arrived. Unfortunately, it does not live up to the expectations.
Del Rey opens the album with a slow tempo, the orchestral background giving “Honeymoon,” the first track on the album, a cinematic grandeur. This is quite typical for Del Rey, as she has done this for her past three albums. Though she is not doing anything new in this album, you can’t help but still feel like it’s from the 1960s, and you’re stuck in a Californian nightmare with her.
In “Honeymoon,” Del Rey fawns over her man as she tries to escape from pain. Since she often alludes to escaping, it could be a central theme on the album. As she continues with “Music to Watch Boys to” and “High by the Beach,” Del Rey attempts to mix up her style by adding more upbeat, hip-hop tempos and catchy choruses, which really bring the songs together. This is the album’s only saving grace.
“High by the Beach” has Del Rey singing about blotting away the pain in her life, while she laments her painful, yet pleasurable relationships. She sings, “I don’t wanna do this anymore, it’s so surreal, I can’t survive if this is all that’s real,” and as a listener, I am often confused about what she is trying to say. The enjoyable part of this song is that the chorus has echoes, which make listeners feel like they are at the beach with Del Rey.
The album continues with “Religion,” a slow-tempo song with classical elements, in which Del Rey expressed her devotion for her lover, as if he were a god, “cause you’re my religion, you’re how I’m living. When I’m down on my knees, you’re how I pray.” There are sexist tones in “Religion” that continually get more and more insulting throughout the album.
As Del Rey complains that she has no place in the world, “Freak” is where she finally finds inner-peace in California. People who feel like her can be free with, “endless summers with sun reflecting in [their] eyes.”
“Honeymoon” sounds just like Del Rey’s previous three albums, both melodically and lyrically. There is nothing new or innovative, in contrast to “Ultraviolence,” which was filled with new ideas. She seems to have moved away from bettering her music, and if you already bought “Honeymoon,” I suggest you take a honeymoon from it.