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Jul 28, 2017 Web Exclusive By Ilana Kaplan

Since Lizzy Grant emerged as Lana Del Rey back in 2012, she’s been donning the trope of the Hollywood starlet with a darkness surrounding her. On Lust For Life, to some degree that gloom has lifted: it’s perhaps for the first time we’re really seeing the Lizzy behind the Lana. The Lana Del Rey persona is something that helped Grant stand out when she first burst on the scene with “Video Games” in 2012. Lust For Life shows a glimmer of hope and a real sense of perspective on the current state of politics. While Lust For Life shows us a more tender side of Del Rey, there are still moments of feeling disheartened, but this time it’s from politics and the media, not her drug-dealing ex-lover. It’s something she explores on the wistful “Coachella Woodstock In My Mind” and “When the World Was at War We Kept Dancing,” as Del Rey takes a nostalgic glance at the past and leaves her bitterness behind.

Between her shimmering hope for true romance (“Love”) and her haunting, Enya-like anthems (“13 Beaches”), Del Rey’s newfound outlook is refreshing. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Del Rey album without something smoky and spiteful (“In My Feelings”), but Lust For Life shows Del Rey finding maturity and herself in what seems like the first time. (www.lanadelrey.com)

Author rating: 7/10