Album review: Lana Del Rey, Ultraviolence

Lana Del Rey is a starlet from another era. In this age of endlessly tweeting pop icons, she has achieved the almost impossible in cultivating an air of feverish mystery. On break-out hit ‘Video Games’ she channeled David Lynch and Chris Isaak, preening and heavy-breathing through a song that, while shockingly unoriginal, washed over you like an exotic perfume.

However, the accompanying album, Born To Die, was attacked as a triumph of pose over craft (no matter that ‘Summertime Sadness’ became one of the most covered tunes of the decade). With criticism of Del Rey upholstered by a fair amount of misogyny, there seemed a very real danger she might be eaten up by fame, destroyed by the very forces that had propelled her to the top.