Lana Del Rey, 'Blue Jeans' (VIDEO)

Lana del Rey is making a good case for herself to be our next deep-voiced, soul darling. We first took a double take when we heard her arresting voice, and saw her face, on the video for "Video Games." Del Rey's old-glamor-meets-urban-chic look is reflected in the video's vintage home videos, city scenes and nostalgic mood in general. Musically and lyrically, her songs feel infinitely sad in an artificial-yet-deep kind of way. Her next release, "Blue Jeans," relies on the same combination of nostalgia and realism, and confirms that we should be taking a longer look at this Lana del Rey person.

LISTEN and WATCH:

And if you missed it before, listen to the phenomenal "Video Games":

Comments

[tmdpny]

11:17 AM on 09/23/2011

I'm a huge fan. I've listened to her earlier work and it's obvious she was trying to find herself. Her latest work really hits the mark, and her transformation is right on line. Most people online hate to see the dirty road it takes to get anywhere - they think if it isn't instant and timeless, it's a lie. She is not a lie.

She is following the creative process like every other artist out there. Today you just get to see glimpses of it here and there, and those working on her success try to manage things. That doesn't make a fake - it makes an artist who is finding themselves try to clean the slate a bit to show the vibe she's finding in herself. We really should celebrate this process more.

[clifton montgomery]

02:05 PM on 09/18/2011

Comments like these is exactly why I have a BIG problem with how the internet has RUINED music! Image has ALWAYS been a big part of the music scene! Whether The Beatles were being marketed as wholesome yet cool dudes with mop tops and sunglasses or Prince was being portrayed to the masses as a sex-obsessed nymph, how you looked and the acted was all part of the package & the mystery. Now all you have to do is get on the 'net and you can learn an artists' entire life history and get pictures of their birth certificates and medical records in a few minutes. It's almost impossible for an artist to be an artist because so many self-obsessed critics want everyone to "keep it real", want every song to be about something that "happened in real life", etc. Bowie NEVER was an alien named Ziggy in real life, so why does everything this chick sing have to be something she lived? Berry Gordy molded ALL of his artists but I bet no one complains that The Supremes were so "put together". It would be one thing if LDR had no singing ability and no star quality at all, but she does. As the young kids say....."STOP hating!!"

[uskyldsally]

12:36 PM on 09/14/2011

Some of the commenters should know what they're talking about if they're going to judge this woman. She does NOT have lip injections, her lips are just naturally full, on her youtube channel she adressed this and said she barely had enough money to live off of let alone for a mindless surgery, so if you're going to make comments about her looks at least don't be ignorant and "assume" she's had plastic surgery simply because she has bigger, pouty lips.

That being said I find her songwriting style absolutely mistifying. It's very modern yet still seems deeply romantic, sentimental, and devoted. For her to have the courage to say "I will love you til the end of time/I would wait a million years" and sing it with such conviction is really impressive and it's really, really moving, she doesn't hold back.

Her singing style is slightly "flat" yet filled with so much emotion at the same time. I think with time she could really grow and perfect this style she's made with "Video Games" and "Blue Jeans" and can hopefully become successful, she has a lot of talent, no matter what the commenters on here think.

[emellkay]

11:46 PM on 09/14/2011

I agree that the song is good, but there's no way to dispute the collagen injections. Look at before photos! They exist! I've seen pouty lips before, but pouty means the lower lip sticks out, not that the upper lip juts out like someone just punched you in the face. Hipsterrunoff has a few articles about her now that pretty much tear down the image she's obviously worked hard to create for herself.

[HHUA]

01:39 PM on 10/17/2011

Sorry but your flat wrong about the "lips". As the other poster who responded to you put it "there's no way to dispute the collagen injections". The photos don't lie and her before and after tell it like it is ("collagen"). There are also videos of her as Lizzy Grant and there's NO question that her lips have become dramatically fuller. This new "image" has been manufactured from the 'name'... to the 'style'... and yes, to the "lips". I'm not condemning it, just calling it as I see it.

[foughtthelaw]

09:01 AM on 09/14/2011

Not a big fan of hipster music, especially when its actually aware of itself as hipster music, and this girl seems like she knows just what she's doing and who she's doing it for in a way that belies the spector-ish sound. Nevertheless, there is something about the interaction between the song and the video for Video Games that I absolutely love--something in the presentation of that lost, innocent seventies and eighties Americana that manages neither to ironize nor to mourn it, but to render it uncanny, which is a real accomplishment in the era "Mad Men" theme parties and Ikea. And those lips ain't bad either, people.

[MissIndependentLady]

11:14 AM on 09/13/2011

I like Video Games. Not too impressed by Blue Jeans. She has a retro vibe to her, like she belongs in the 60's or something.

[prettyfnliberal]

09:39 AM on 09/13/2011

Tori Amos called, she'd like you to return her voicebox thanks.

[michelesda]

07:47 AM on 09/13/2011

She can sing, but her diction is a little slack, and I still can't get past that upper lip. She could hurt somebody with that thing. Even shot straight on, it's distracting.

[PathofTotality]

02:08 PM on 09/12/2011

Is it me or does she look a little like Elizabeth Perkins?

[SteveDenver]

01:55 PM on 09/12/2011

Listened to "Blue Jeans," and thought: 'So that's what the DiVinyls are doing these days," her "babydoll coo" brings it to mind.
"Video Games" is impressive, I would love to hear this with bare-bones production, without layers and layers of harp and strings.
The two songs don't sound like the same singer.

[WhatDaBleep]

01:43 PM on 09/12/2011

Great potential - she needs to find her song and sound.

[winias]

01:37 PM on 09/12/2011

Fiona Apple-ish - style to voice - the heck ever happened to her anyway?

[EStreetShuffler]

01:49 PM on 09/12/2011

Either she went on a diet and completely disappeared or she's still suffering from Gratuitous Angst Syndrome.

[prettyfnliberal]

09:41 AM on 09/13/2011

a little more respect for the extremely talented Fiona please! lol she's still making music i believe she toured a few years ago too.

i can't believe i still haven't seen her live. and i personally thought Ms. del Rey sounds more like Tori Amos. same lilt to the voice is what i'm hearing.

[PathofTotality]

01:32 PM on 09/12/2011

Good voice. I would like to hear an "unplugged" version but she is worth another listen. As I listened to both songs I noticed they both had this "flat" sound to them. Not flat notes or keys but.....maybe linear is a good word for it but not in a bad way. I'm intrigued.

[Warren Yuill]

01:28 PM on 09/12/2011

Re: Blue Jeans

If Stevie Nicks and Chris Isaccs had a love child.....................

[Peahen]

01:52 PM on 09/12/2011

I was thinking Tori Amos and Chris Isaak.

[Eddy333]

01:20 PM on 09/12/2011

AAAAAAHHHHHH!!! DUCK LIPS!!

Must. slap. her. across. the. face!

[commiepinko]

01:52 PM on 09/12/2011

SO, you only like thin-lipped white bee otches?

[Eddy333]

03:12 PM on 09/13/2011

No, I just don't like thin-lipped white bee otches who have collagen injected into their lips so that they appear to be sporting a beak.

[cornel]

01:16 PM on 09/12/2011

Lizzy Grant A.K.A. wuf wuf Lana del Rey ! You have my vote