Born to Die – Paradise Edition

A year ago, Lana Del Rey was roiling the Internet with arguments about authenticity and class politics. Today, the kerfuffle, like most bygone online brouhahas, seems silly, and her debut sounds like a flawed but enjoyably cheeky exercise in noir pop. The deluxe edition adds eight new tracks, which bring her strengths into focus – chiefly, a sense of humor for which she’s not given enough credit. (“My pussy tastes like Pepsi-Cola,” she deadpans in “Cola.”) Del Rey is far from a great singer, and her songs tend to drag. But her shtick – 1950s torch balladry spiced with sexed-up 21st-century provocation – is at least conceptually sharp. 

Listen to ‘Born to Die – Paradise Edition’