A little bit of Lana Del Rey goes a long way. It was true when the songstress released her major-label debut album, “Born to Die,” in 2012, and it remains true three years later. The New York City-born balladeer has returned with “Honeymoon,” out Friday, her latest album of noir-pop. It features a familiar lyrical roll-call of doomed love affairs, impossible relationships and world-weariness. It’s a tale as old as time, so hearing all 14 tracks in one sitting can feel like a repetitive slog.
Still, there are many moments when Del Rey makes those stories sound new again. Here are the five best tracks.
‘God Knows I’ve Tried’
Wallowing in self-pity is something Lana Del Rey continues to do beautifully, and on this track, you can see the real strands of her life through the pretense. “I’ve got nothing much to live for/Ever since I found my fame,” is a line that echoes her none-too-happy state of mind in the lead-up to her last album, “Ultraviolence.” (In one interview with the Guardian, she expressed a wish that she was dead.) Her hauntingly angelic vocals and chilling delivery suggest that things haven’t changed all that much.
‘High by the Beach’
Del Rey once summed herself up as being the “gangster Nancy Sinatra,” and it’s a term that feels even more apt in light of the hip-hop influence running through “Honeymoon.” “High by the Beach,” in particular, weaves slow-motion trap beats into the green haze of what is the best chorus on the album.
‘Salvatore’
Don’t try to fight it, because it’s highly likely that in the darkest recesses of Hollywood, there is a group of dastardly film executives hatching a “Godfather” reboot. Del Rey seems to be anticipating it too — because the grand Italian sighs and strings of “Salvatore” would sound perfect on a soundtrack for such a film.
‘The Blackest Day’
Heartbreak is never far away on any Lana Del Rey album, and the enveloping darkness of “The Blackest Day” is where it gets turned up all the way. Kudos are also due to Del Rey and her co-writers, Rick Nowels and Kieron Menzies, for making the best use of “trigonometry” as a song lyric since Sam Cooke’s “What a Wonderful World.”
‘24’
Several rumors have suggested that Lana Del Rey was in the running to contribute the theme to the new Bond movie, “Spectre.” If that was the case, the cinematic “24” must have been the song in question. “There’s only 24 hours in a day/And half of those, you lay awake/With thought of murder and carnage,” she croons, seemingly from the perspective of the archetypal Bond girl. He may have gotten the job, but it’s going to be hard for Sam Smith to top this.