Category Archives: Music Review

Concert Review, Music, Music Review

Concert review: Wake Up.

A band I’ve been longing to see, which hasn’t played live for six years. Arcade Fire.

The O2 in London, September 8th, 2022. Well, finally. 

Probably 20,000 people or so…  full. A diverse bunch attending the show (or maybe it’s been such a long while since a large event because of COVID, and I’ve just forgotten). Young, old, and those like me (in self-denial mode). A huge auditorium.

The Queen

Just as I left my flat before the show, the BBC on the TV said Queen Elizabeth II had died – 6:30pm BST. Then my cab arrived, and I said goodbye to my wife within minutes of the news. It was an hour-long drive, the news was on the radio in the cab, and I could see in the streets many people looking at their smartphones (at least more than usual).

No real difference at the O2, really, other than every single electronic panel/signage already mentioning her passing and sending condolences along with tributes.

As a dedication, Arcade Fire came out at the show’s beginning and played Louis Armstrong’s version of “Just a Closer Walk With Thee”, a song used primarily at New Orleans funeral processions. A minute’s silence proceeded, and then they jumped into “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)”.

The Show

I loved it. Let’s get that out of the way. Win Butler and his wife, Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, and Jeremy Gara did not disappoint. Régine can play so many instruments, it is mind-blowing… Drums, guitar, accordion, xylophone, and others. And of course, she sings.

Songs from all over their career. I call them a Canadian band, but Win is from California and, after many years and other places, ended up in Montreal, where he met his wife, Haitian-born Régine. The other members of the band are all Canadian. 

So, they are a Canadian band.

Most of the songs were ripped from their glorious new album, “WE”, followed by their first, “Funeral”. All fan favorites. If I was a fanboy fanatic, I’d say that many of Win’s songs start kind of slow but then build up into a fantastic crescendo of “YES!!!”, or… they start as “YES!!!” from the very beginning. OK, I am a fanboy fanatic.

So…

So, the O2 is huge. Other than those standing in the front and watching, it is also all seated. I was sort of two-thirds towards the back, but still with a great view of the stage and the “B-stage”, which is a small stage in the middle of the auditorium the band would use occasionally. 

The first few songs started… everyone remained seated during the Queen’s tribute, understandably, but then the classics poured in. But no one stood up around me. I waited. I didn’t want to ruin anyone’s view by standing.

Finally, the one song, “Ready To Start” (this was song four, I think), began, and gradually… very gradually… people around me started to stand. So, f**k it, I stood and clapped and jumped and sang along, etc. (these are the sorts of things I consider you must do when you go to a rock/pop concert, no)? After that, I stayed standing throughout the rest of the show. The couple next to me sat down a few times. I don’t know if anyone behind me did.

I didn’t care if anyone else was sitting around me. This was Arcade Fire and, yes, another band I had wanted to see for ages (OK, before dying). So, even during the slower songs, my attitude was one of “I DON’T GIVE A F**K ABOUT WHO IS AROUND ME”, so if they wanted to sit during this fantastic show, then, fine, sit.

I’m 50, though, in my head, I still think I’m 42 (maybe younger). But Win is 42, so hey, great.

They finished the main show with “Everything Now”, which I love, even though their album, Everything Now, is described as being their worst album, to the extent that Win sings on WE’s “End of the Empire IV (Sagittarius A*)”, a lyric …”We unsubscribe, F**k Season Five”. A joke about Everything Now, their fifth album.

Encore

After “Everything Now”, we had the usual, “Ok, let’s leave the stage, wait a bit and then come out and do the encore”. What I absolutely hate (and I’m sorry to those who may find this important), are the number of people who leave at the end of the show and before the encore… to get public transport, taxis, an easier ride home, a drink at a bar nearby, or… what?

So, the auditorium was still pretty full. Just not as full. I just kept thinking, “Those dorks just missed out on the best songs of the evening, which finished with Wake Up” (I think all their concerts finish with Wake Up). This is from “Funeral”, their first album, and it is a crowd-crazy pleaser to the extent that the audience can sing and let Arcade Fire just play their instruments… in essence, everyone was standing and going absolutely, arm-waving, bonkers.

Which was great. That was how I expected an Arcade Fire concert to end.

But then…

Wha?

So, I was leaving, gradually, as the place was so big, and then Win and Régine just started to … walk around. Primarily where I was seated. They walked up (OK, photo alert) and then to the left, right, down, up, left, and then down, right, and then… absolutely past me to the extent I said to Win, “Fantastic show,” and crazily patted Régine’s shoulder.

Now, when I mentioned this to my wife the next day, I felt like a little fanboy who had just met Simon Le Bon after a Duran Duran concert in 1984. Understandably, she looked at me with a blank stare, thinking, “He is 50, right?”

Well, since the concert, I’ve been digesting their music, and I can just say that Win and co. were fantastic at this show in September 2022. I’m glad that “WE” will be in my Top 10 list of “Best albums of the year of 2022”. I’m glad that, after all of this time, after this depressing delay… not being able to see live bands in a venue like the O2 because of COVID, Arcade Fire was the first one I saw.

So, thank you, AF.

Chris Garrod, Sept 10th, 2022

Concert Review, Music, Music Review, Technology

Concert review: Holy crap, what was that?

All photos by David James Swanson 

Jack White, formerly of The White Stripes and founder of Third Man Records, performed live in Baltimore on August 24th, 2022. I sat happily in the 3rd row of the Pier Sixth Concert Pavilion in awe.

OK, I say “sat.”  I mean “stood.” 

OK, not just stood. A lot of jumping and clapping along with my hands in the air, and since the guy behind me was yelling so much, I didn’t feel any need to hold back when necessary. 

Well, holy crap, what was that? That, indeed, was a Jack White concert.

The use of technology. Or non-technology

I have been to loads of shows where people appear to be enjoying themselves, but during so much of the show, they are taking photos and recording parts of the show on their smartphones without actually engaging with what they should be. The show. The artist.

I’m guilty – I’ve previously taken photos, video clips, etc.

But some folks will record entire songs and post them on YouTube, and to be honest, very rarely is the quality not… ultimately… crap. As the artist, I’d be f*&ing irritated. And why bother buying a ticket to see the artist in the first place if you’re wasting your money hoping for more “likes” on social media?

So, along comes Yondr, which Jack White and other artists (most prominently Dave Chappelle) are pioneering. It is actually brilliant. 

How it works: you arrive at the venue, and if you have bought along your smartphone, you’ll get a pouch. Enter your smartphone, which is locked in the pouch, so you cannot use it.  You’ll get briefly scanned to ensure you’re not hiding some other smartphone (smarty-pants) and then let in.

At first, it feels weird. “Hey, there’s the stage! Let me take a photo to send to my buddies!”  Nope. I arrived a bit early, and after getting something to eat from one of the stalls, I went to my seat and sat. Waiting. Watching and listening to the DJ on the stage. 

I began people-watching. The couple sitting next to me arrived to check their seat position and said, “Hey man, how are you?” I thought we were about to break into some sort of conversation, but they left. The opening act came on, and they were great. Cautious Clay from New York.

I’d never usually (as in, really, really rarely) sit and watch the entirety of an opening band, but these guys were really, really good. I later looked them up on the internet, and yes, they are.

Jack White

So, the Yondr made me pay attention. And once Jack White and his band hit the stage, I was happy it did.

Jack absolutely killed it, which I mean in a good, “I love rock music” way.  He reminded me why I love rock music so much. The total energy.

He played songs from his solo albums (mostly from his latest two, Fear of The Dawn and Entering Heaven Alive) but also a number from his time with The White Stripes (I will admit, I went bat-shit crazy when he played “Hotel Yorba”), The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather (he finished the official set with “I Cut Like a Buffalo”).

During the encore, there was a brilliant mix towards the end of what began to sound like “Seven Nation Army,”… getting everyone excited, but which then turned into “Steady, As She Goes” (from his time with The Raconteurs), which then slowed down…stopped, and turned into “Seven Nation Army.” The audience went unsurprisingly nuts.

I wasn’t initially sure he would use older material or just stick with his solo stuff. Still, as soon as he ripped into “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” earlier on, I thought, “Well, so he’s definitely going to end with Seven Nation Army,” then.

It didn’t matter anyway.  

The entire thing was brilliant from start to finish, and the lack of smartphones kept the audience enraptured (appropriately so). Jack slid across the stage everywhere, singing, playing, and jumping around. His opening songs from Fear of the Dawn justified how brilliant an artist he really is. His energy on the stage is practically atomic, and he is one of our best guitarists.

The songs are not only hooky and catchy, but they rocked the hell out of the place. Seeing Jack live singing them left my jaw open, but for the fact that I was singing along, clapping along, etc.  

He stopped at points to take breathers (him and the audience), dry off, trade guitars (I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an artist exchange so many guitars), and play a few slower songs from Entering Heaven Alive. He cheekily played “We’re Going to be Friends,” a White Stripes song where he managed to get the audience to sing practically half of it, as it is such an iconic song from The White Stripes.

I have a sort of funny list of “Bands and Artists I Want to See Before I’m Dead.”  Well, Jack White, you were on it, and thank you.  You did not disappoint. 

Chris Garrod, August 25, 2022

Music, Music Review

Review: The Beatles: How do you pick your favorite albums?

(Well, I’ve had to keep it to three)

Just the tip of the iceberg…

So, I’m a Beatles fanatic. I could try to list my favorite Beatles albums from start to finish (does “Yellow Submarine” even count?”), but I decided to list my top three instead. Far easier!

My top 3 Beatles albums:

1.  Abbey Road

Lots of reasons. 

It’s a beautifully produced record by George Martin. The sound is so clean, vibrant and everything is just… tight.  There are no messy White Album loose ends or Let it Be rooftop wisecracks. Yellow Submarine instrumentals.

First, there are the circumstances surrounding its recording, which makes it pretty incredible it even got made in the first place.

They had recently been through the fray of spending hours upon hours recording the Get Back sessions, with little result – bitter arguments with each other. Paul was overstepping a bit as a leader combined with John taking a more “I don’t give a shit” attitude, George wanting to assert himself and feeling fed up, and Ringo just being miserable. The material was eventually left to Phil Spector to wade through and organize into Let It Be, released in March 1970. It was done so amongst the mess of McCartney also wanting to release his first solo album, McCartney, confusing press releases about their breakup and various threats of lawsuits.   

Following the Get Back sessions, but before their actual breakup, George Martin got a call from one of them out of the blue. He was asked if he’d be interested in going back to the studio to start something brand new.  That album, Abbey Road, was the last album they recorded together. 

On Abbey Road, you get a tremendous sense of completion. George Harrison said at one point, “…it felt as if we were reaching the end of the line.”

Well, the second half.

http://www.beatlesebooks.com/golden-slumbers

If I ever get asked, “What’s your favorite Beatles song?” I often try to cheat and say, “The second half of Abbey Road.”  Primarily Paul’s creation but starting with George’s “Here Comes The Sun.” After finishing the first side with the white noise of John’s majestic and epic “(I Want You) She’s so Heavy,” to flip over and open with something so beautiful is startling.  And then from there… “Because,” “You Never Give Me Your Money,” “Sun King,” “Golden Slumbers,” etc., all the way to… the end. Just. Pure. Magic. They each take turns doing solos on “Carry Your Weight/The End,” with Ringo on drums as well.  “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”  Again, just that sense of completion.  

And then Paul’s little cheeky “Your Majesty.”  To me, almost a signal that “Hey, never say never” to the fans.  I love every single inch of this record. And I haven’t even really talked about the first half. Do I need to when it has “Something” on it?  One of the greatest love songs of all time?  

2.  Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Sgt. Pepper hits the Beatles right in that sweet spot where they were at the height of their experimentation, talent, influence, and, indeed, drug-induced psychedelia. The concept was Paul’s. After deciding to stop touring and put “Beatlemania” on hiatus (forever, it turned out), the notion was to come up with an alternative band to The Beatles, so that is how the album developed. They looked at The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds. They wanted to surpass it and, in doing so, created one of the first concept albums ever.

It’s easy now to take material like this for granted but imagine yourself in late 1967. There was nothing else that had been released resembling Sgt. Pepper.  A gatefold sleeve with lyrics inside, cardboard cutout figures of the band, etc.

And then listen to the damn thing – it is brilliant, flowing from start to finish.  A masterpiece through and through, dominated mainly by Paul, though it doesn’t feel like it, culminating with “A Day in The Life,” not just one of the greatest Beatles songs but also one of the greatest rock songs of all time. I mean, Ringo sings on track 2 for f**k’s sake – that’s how confident they were, with George Martin at the helm. He knew and they knew – it was going to be unique and a masterpiece. 

“Lovely Rita,” looking back on it, is probably one of the most psychedelic tracks Paul wrote.  George’s “Within and Without You” is also a pleasant surprise, unlike anything they had done (well, anyone had ever done before then) using Indian instruments, the sitar, etc., creating a whirlwind of mysticism and intrigue. The whizzing and wheezing of “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite,” listening to it thinking you were in a circus. 

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And a lot of that comes back to George Martin and again, like Abbey Road, his wonderful production, his ability to rein in this genius talent and produce something not only so creative but just coherent, to begin with. Paul and John (and George, of course) wrote the songs – they were the musical geniuses for sure.  But without George Martin, Sgt. Pepper easily could have been a disaster.  He pulled all the strings together to make it work.   

3. A Hard Day’s Night

Abbey Road always to me is a predominantly “Paul” Beatles record, but A Hard Day’s Night feels, to me at least, like a “John” record. It holds a special place in my heart as being my introduction to the Beatles.  The one album my parents had lurking amongst their LPs of Burl Ives, Leonard Bernstein, Bob Newhart, and The Goon Show.  I must have listened to it every morning, getting ready for school for ages and ages.  I devoured it.  I would read the back of the album tons of times. I didn’t really know who the Beatles were, but after playing A Hard Day’s Night practically to death, I went to the local record store and managed to get my parents to buy their 1962-66 and 1967-70 compilations (Red and Blue), and that was it. The adoration began.

But A Hard Day’s Night…  That opening E major chord. Through and through a perfect example of everything great about the Beatles in the full flow of their early career. The absolute height of Beatlemania.  Faultless.  Years and years after I listened to the album, I rented the VHS from the video store down the road, but I didn’t need to watch the film to enjoy the music (though I love the film.)

https://favim.com/image/1583880/

Half of the songs aren’t in the film; the second half.  George makes an appearance, but the record is divided into John and Paul’s songwriting. Still, in my view, the overall feel is John (he certainly takes lead vocals on most of the songs). Rocking, swinging, funny in a way. “I Should Have Known Better” has one of the most fantastic harmonica harmonies ever. You’ve got songs like “Can’t Buy Me Love,” a Paul rocker, “If I Fell,” a John swooner. “Things We Said Today,” just beautiful. One thing I love about this album is that they wrote every single song, unlike many of their early albums which would borrow at least 2 to 4 cover songs. The whole album rocks from start to finish, and by the time it is over, you’ll be hitting repeat, if it’s not already set. 

So while the teenagers were screaming around the world, this is 100% Lennon/McCartney at the height of their collaborative prowess. While after this album, it’s hard to admit Lennon and McCartney’s songwriting skills gradually moved on independently, this is a remarkably enjoyable listen, one which is utterly unique for its time and just plain fun.

The rest?

I could attempt to list the rest in order, such as “The White Album,” “Revolver,” etc., but after that, it just gets… difficult. For instance, one album I’d love to rank but really can’t is George and Giles Martin’s “Love,” which from start to finish I think is a work of genius, albeit not an official Beatles album.

So a top three is pretty much as far as I can go. Sorry.

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Music, Music Review

Review: Back stronger than a ’90s trend.

It feels like she cannot stop making music, and it’s outstanding.

Taylor Swift was born in just 1989. So she is only 31 years old.

It’s truly fantastic to see her progress. When I started to write this, I was going to detail that progress, all the way up to 2019’s Lover, which became one of my favorite albums of that year. But it just became too much.

I just want to look at the now.

Her last year, 2020.

folklore
evermore

Both released just out of the blue, folklore and evermore shocked me; the first in July and the next in December. Both albums were largely produced by The National’s Aaron Dessner and long-time collaborator Jack Antonoff, who produced a few tracks.

The best way I can describe these albums is – while Swift described them as sister albums – that they just… drift along together. Notwithstanding the various reviews regarding which one is better (Metacritic ranks folklore), I very much see these two albums as one. They’re not even sisters in my opinion. But for “Willow” being the outstanding opener of evermore, they really are hard to tear apart, running on a constant basis (NB: caveat… I’ve now listened so much to them both, I really can tell them apart, ahem).

evermore was really conceived during the Long Pond Studio Sessions documentary, recorded with Dessner and Antonoff. Indie band Haim, Bon Iver, and The National appear on three of the tracks of evermore. Bon Iver appears on folklore (more on that below.)

Although she has maintained her pop music core, these are really indie albums. They are both introspective. The lyrics are ‘in demand’ listening – you really, really have to appreciate what she is singing. Plus she swears!

Dessner stated after folklore was released:

Taylor has opened the door for artists to not feel pressure to have “the bop.” To make the record that she made, while running against what is programmed in radio at the highest levels of pop music — she has kind of made an anti-pop record.

I’m not sure I’d say either folklore or evermore are “anti-pop”. Make no mistake, for the most part, these are really still pop albums but dialed down a notch, certainly.

The one song I’d highlight, which I’d say is certainly not a pop song, from folklore, is Exile, with Bon Iver. This is a song which has been so beautifully written by Swift, William Bowery, and Justin Vernon, that on my first listen, completely brought tears to my eyes, something songs just really don’t do. I was initially taken aback by the opening: Vernon’s singing. That was followed by Swift’s. The two combined and split apart again and then hit an amazing, beautiful crescendo, which left me literally gobsmacked. Lyrically, it is incredible. The song is about a break-up between two lovers, which is irretrievable. The song is absolutely devastating.

Swift has always been a great songwriter. 1989 and Lover are examples. Her early country music output began when she was just sixteen, with Taylor Swift being released and becoming the longest-charting album of the 2000s decade on the Billboard 200. At just sixteen.

In my view, folklore and evermore have elevated her to a brand new level, and the two combined were my favorite albums of 2020.

I’m looking forward to hearing what she does next.

Chris Garrod, 10 February, 2021

Music, Music Review

Review: Lana, what have you done to me?

Image

Lana Del Rey has made one of the most astonishing albums this decade.

I still don’t really know who Norman Rockwell is, other than briefly Googling him, reading about him being an author, painter and illustrator… and that was pretty much as far as I got.

I’m not sure I care.

I think I’ve listened to Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! so many times since it was released at the end of August, the algorithms which helped Spotify identify my favourite songs of the year gave up all hope at the beginning of December 2019. Forget it. Ok, we know. You love the album so let’s just include everything. It’s dominated by her.

The vibe of this entire album drifts along with a kind of mid-to-late seventies pop/rock groove, which I find hard to explain. My wife said to me it almost feels like you’ve heard every song on this album by the time it plays. They seem delightfully recognisable in such a blissful way.

Her partnership with Jack Antonoff is a pure winner. Lana is an amazing songwriter, as is Jack, who is also an incredible producer (which he does for most of these tracks). Together, they’ve not only created certainly Lana Del Rey’s best album but one of the best I’ve come across this decade.

Strangely, before this album, I can’t even say I was a big fan of her music — just a relatively casual listener.

This album has no bad tracks. Everything has been sung by Lana, so beautifully and sultry at times but always sonically pure, blending with everything behind it and in front of it. I’ll listen to one song and cannot wait for the next, and the next, the next.

So, the tracks.

Norman Fucking Rockwell

Well, if an album is going to start with a bang lyrically, it’s with “Goddamn, man-child, you fucked me so good that I almost said ‘I love you’”.

But almost. Ultimately, the exclamation is that he put her through shit and then over and over, her riff “….as you colour me blue, blue, blue, blue….”

Is she ‘happy’ in blue, a cross-reference to her future love in the third track Venice Bitch…..a Norman Rockwell piece painted in blue?

Answer: No.

Mariners Apartment Complex

Lana is helping. “Maybe I could save you from your sins, So kiss the sky and whisper to Jesus. My, my, my, you found this, you need this. Take a deep breath, baby, let me in….”

Lana’s struggled in the past and fucked up but found hope. And now, for this person, “just take my hand…. I’m your man.” She is the guide for someone who needs encouragement — someone who is struggling.

“Take in the sweetness, you want this you need this….are you ready for it?”

Venice Bitch

I’ll first come out and say: this is the shortest 9 and a half minute song I’ve ever listened to.

Lyrically, it’s pretty straightforward (though I understand it contains a lot of references or allusions to previous Lana songs). It’s the only one that actually refers to Norman Rockwell. “Paint me happy in blue, Norman Rockwell.”

Ultimately it’s a love song. “You write, I tour, we make it work, You’re beautiful and I’m insane… Oh God, miss you on my lips…It’s me, your little Venice bitch”.

Venice bitch being an obvious play on Venice Beach.

I love the whirly, serious psychedelic vibes over the last portion of the song…. repeatedly, “If you weren’t mine, I’d be…jealous of your love”….

Fuck it I love you

Where do I begin?

California is just a state of mind? Well, if you let it. “It turns out everywhere you go‚ you take yourself‚ that’s not a lie….”

“I used to shoot up my veins in neon”. … “If I wasn’t so fucked up, I think I’d fuck you all the time”.

This song reflects a lot of the dark issues in Lana Del Rey’s past. Drug and alcohol addiction, relationship issues, difficulties adjusting to change. She has relationship issues as well…errr, clearly. “Baby‚ wish that you would hold me or just say that you were mine. But it’s killing me slowly…”

“Dream a little dream of me” she sings, which suits the song, the album and her.

It’s hard to figure out where she will end up next.

Doin’ Time

This 1990’s Sublime cover is my least favorite song on the album (though commercially most successful). But that’s practically irrelevant.

It’s not her song but I suppose it kind of weirdly suits her and it is distinctly suited for the summer, with another California-esque feel. A breezy feeling all around.

Love Song

As the name states, it’s a love song.

“Is it safe, is it safe to just be who we are?” “The taste, the touch, the way we love it all comes down to this our love song….” “Spill my clothes on the floor of your new car.”

Lana is actually in love and wants to express it. Go figure.

Cinnamon Girl

“You try to push me out but I just find my way back in.”

She finds her way back in but it is all messed up and conflicted. “If you hold me without hurting me, you’ll be the first whoever did.”… She wants love but gets pain.

It’s a sort of simple song. But not so simple. Yes, it is also beautiful.

How to Disappear

This has a weird, kind of funky-without-being funky feeling. It is sort of simple ….she’s met a guy in NY and has what sounds like a pretty fucked up relationship (“I know he’s in over his head”) to the extent that he may have to “forget the things they fear.” So… “This is how to disappear”.

So….. she’s ended up in, well, California. The sun. The movie stars. Where else? So. “Think about those years…. as I whisper in your ears…I’m always gone to be right here.”

And that’s it.

California

Based on the title, it must be easy from the beginning if you’re wondering what this song is about. “California”.

But it’s not. It’s a song about wanting a lover to come back to California.

It kills me. The very opening. “You don’t ever have to be stronger than you really are, when you’re lying in my…… (deliberate stop)….. arms”. Her vocal here is as beautiful as I’ve ever heard.

Her lure. She’ll pick him up, she will hit him up, she will do what he ever wants, she’ll have a party, she will dance to dawn and pick up his liquor from the top shelf.

“This is crazy love….. if you come back to California, you should just hit me up.”

It has less to do with California and more to do with her desperation for him to come back.

The Next Best American Record

Another love song.

Her musical lover and she are convinced/obsessed they can just go to bed and not worry about writing the next American record — they simply can — so they can just go out and party on the beach. “He was as cool as heck” (Heck?!)

“We put Eagles down in Malibu” (both another California reference and link to the incredibly late-1970’s influence over this album).

“Ultimately, whatever is wrong tonight, I just want to party with you — I’m taking off my bathing suit.” “All the roads lead to you.”

He makes her feel… wanted.

Because it’s something she never knew.

The greatest

So Lana steps back and takes it all in. And it’s overwhelming. She misses it all.

Things have changed.

It’s one of the most uplifting sounding songs on the album. But it is clear — as for Lana, it isn’t. “I’m facing the greatest, the greatest loss of them all.”

“The culture is lit and if this is it, then I had a ball…I guess I’m signing off after all. … I guess that I’m burned out after all…. life on Mars ain’t just a song”.

She’s fed up with everything.

So I guess the greatest isn’t great. But “The greatest” is the greatest track on the album.

Bartender

And then she’s just trying to keep her love alive…. “With my bartender, hold me all night”. Strikingly unusual, with hints of her sobriety: “Baby remember, I’m not drinking wine, but that Cherry Coke you serve is fine”.

The song drips California. Wine is flowing with Bacardi.

Happiness is a Butterfly?

You wouldn’t get it from an initial listen of this album, and no, not from this song, which is probably as dark as Lana gets. “Happiness is a butterfly, try to catch it, like, every night, it escapes from my hands into moonlight…”

“If he’s a serial killer, then what’s the worst? That can happen to a girl who’s already hurt? I’m already hurt.”

It’s as grim as you can get. It’s an interesting track, because it is just her and Jack Antonoff on piano, and it completely blends into the next track.

Happiness is a butterfly…. and hope is a dangerous thing. She still has both.

hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have — but I have it

The last song. Godddddddddddddd. Jack Antonoff’s solo piano with her solo singing, about love, religion, family, alcoholism, relationships. Bare. If I keep saying beautiful, then kill me. And Jack’s piano is just so… him. I’ve heard a lot of his music, and you may not notice it’s him, but once you know it, you instantly recognise him. Just go back to the beginning of the album and listen again.

So notwithstanding every single song preceding this one, the coda here is that when it comes to hope: “I have it.”

Norman Fucking Rockwell. Lana Del Rey.

It’s easily my album of 2019. I have no idea where it would rank on a “Best of the 2010’s” list. I don’t care.

Just turn the radio on and dance to a pop song.

“Fuck it I love you.”

10/10

Chris Garrod