Ultra Lana

Ultra Lana

Another Lana Del Rey album?

Yes, please!

Del Rey's Ultraviolence is the follow-up to her smash hit Born To Die (2012), which spawned five singles - Video Games, Born To Die, Blue Jeans, National Anthem, Summertime Sadness - and sold a staggering five million copies!

There was some controversy when Born To Die came out as Del Rey was tagged as a phoney.

The 27-year-old had started her career under her real name, Lizzy Grant, and with a somewhat different image. She was blonde, mainly.

Some thought that "Lana Del Rey" was a record company contrivance -but no more so than any other music act and much less so than other big acts.

Del Rey got the last laugh - or at least she would have if she weren't too languid for laughter.

Proving that Born To Die wasn't a freak success, her EP Paradise (2012) sold more than 300,000 copies in the US alone and was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at this year's Grammy Awards.

Now comes Ultraviolence and we are ultraready.

Here's what you ultra-have to know.

1. ULTRATITLE

We've already told you the album is called Ultraviolence, but what exactly does it mean?

The Collins Dictionary defines it as "any extremely violent acts, esp. those shown on television or film".

Cool! But the really interesting thing about the word is its origins.

"Ultraviolence" was coined by Anthony Burgess in his book A Clockwork Orange, and later popularised in the film adaptation directed by Stanley Kubrick.

Del Rey has a great love of books and movies, and A Clockwork Orange is a touchstone of cool in both worlds.

2. ULTRADATE

Ultraviolence comes out in the US on June 17.

What could possibly be the significance of this date for Del Rey?

Well, it just so happens that June 17 is the birthday of French composer Charles Gounod, who wrote the opera Faust, about a scholar who makes a deal with the devil.

June 17 is also the day that OJ Simpson ran from the cops in his Bronco back in 1994.

Definitely a Hollywood Babylon moment that Del Rey would savour.

3. ULTRADARK

If you thought Born To Die was dark - and, wow, was it ever - you apparently ain't heard nothing yet.

In a Twitter Q&A with fans, Del Rey said that she's venturing into even stormier waters with Ultraviolence.

"It is absolutely gorgeous - darker then the first - so dark it's almost unlistenable and wrong.

"But I love it."

How much more black could it be? None more black. (Spinal Tap reference!)

4. ULTRACOVER

The new cover for Ultraviolence is very much in keeping with Del Rey's covers for Born To Die and Paradise - it's basically just her, staring at us blankly.

The black and white photo is a shot of Del Rey getting out of a car with that sort of inscrutable look on her face.

Shot by Neil Krug - whose clients include My Chemical Romance - it continues the style set by Del Rey's primary photographer, her sister, Caroline "Chuck" Grant.

5. ULTRASINGLE

The first single from Ultraviolence is West Coast, which was released April 24 and peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. It's her second highest ranking after Cedric Gervais' remix of Summertime Sadness, which topped out at No. 6.

The song is another of her odes to Hollywood gilt and gaucherie.

"Down on the West Coast, they love their movies / Their golden gods and rock 'n' roll groupies / And you've got the music / You've got the music in you, don't you?"

It's a bit surfie, a bit sardonic and totally sensuous. Pure Lana.

6. ULTRAVIDEO

The overriding theme in almost all of Del Rey's vids is "I heart skeevy men", and the video for West Coast is no different.

During the day, Del Rey hangs out at the beach with a couple of dodgy rocker types. Then at night she cruises around in a convertible with a creepy-looking old dude.

By the end of the piece, she's engulfed in flames.

Take note, girls - hang with the bad boys and you'll get burned!

7. ULTRATRAX

The track list for Ultraviolence is as follows:

1. Cruel World

2. Ultraviolence

3. Shades Of Cool

4. Brooklyn Baby

5. West Coast

6. Sad Girl

7. Pretty When You Cry

8. Money Power Glory

9. F***** My Way To The Top

10. Old Money

11. The Other Woman

It all sounds pretty Lana Del Rey-esque to me.

8. ULTRAPRODUCER

Dan Auerbach, guitar player and Grammy-winning producer for blues-rock band The Black Keys, is the knob-twiddler behind Ultraviolence.

He met Del Rey through a mutual friend in New York, and they ended up hitting it off. So she asked him to produce the album. Apparently, he had a great time.

He told Rolling Stone Magazine: "She's a true eccentric, and, you know, extremely talented.

"She has a definite vision of what she is and what she wants to be, musically and visually, which is cool."

9. ULTRADELUXE

For those of you who still buy CDs - or even vinyl records! - Ultraviolence is available in a fab deluxe box set.

You get two LP picture discs, a deluxe CD digipack and four 12 x 12 art prints!

I'm actually considering getting a record player just so I can get in on these beautiful LP picture discs. So special!

The deluxe edition also contains three bonus tracks: Black Beauty, Guns And Roses and Florida Kilos.

10. ULTRATOUR

Del Rey is currently in the midst of a spring tour that will see her play 22 gigs in just one month.

She's criss-crossing the US and Canada playing theatres, ballrooms and bars, as well as festivals such as Coachella, where she was a huge hit.

So if you're going to be in Philadelphia, Chicago, Vancouver or Seattle in May, you might want to catch a show - if it's not sold out.

jjohnson@sph.com.sg

This article was published on May 21 in The New Paper.

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