Two standout upbeat songs, “Interlude - The Trio” and “Dealer,” see Del Rey inject more energy than she could muster on “Chemtrails.” There are ballads to cry to and there are ballads to fall asleep to. In the past, Del Rey has released some of the most intricate and well-written ballads ever, but these are washed out and devoid of interest. I’m not going to listen to “Thunder” or “Cherry Blossom” when I revisit the album. I’m always down for a floating song, but “Blue Banisters” may have just a few too many. I didn’t anticipate getting emotional about Lana’s home renovations, but I’m not mad about it. She’ll still be remembered for “NFR” critically and “Born to Die” commercially, and I accept that.įor a track that opens with a line about a John Deere tractor, it packs a punch. Less stripped down than “Chemtrails” and less groundbreaking than “Norman Fucking Rockwell,” “Blue Banisters” won’t make waves in the Lana universe. 8, and 11 other songs to round out the hour-long project. The three singles join “Arcadia,” released Sept. The album cover is no longer a selfie but Del Rey sitting nestled between two German shepherds in front of a banister that is not blue.

22 date that I somehow didn’t hear about until just a few weeks ago? I would’ve thrown hands. That’s fine though, everyone makes mistakes. “Wildflower Wildfire,” “Text Book” and “Blue Banisters” seemed to confirm that, unlike certain projects in the past, Del Rey would stick the landing and release the album on the right date. We didn’t get any full singles ahead of the magic date, but we did get three songs out of nowhere, each with a different filter of the cover. The new album came with a famously terrible selfie cover.

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