Album Review: Lana Del Rey – Blue Banisters

By Resonate | November 5, 2021

There’s nothing new or exciting on Blue Banisters, but Lana does what she does well enough for a pleasant, but forgettable listen. Blue Banisters finds Lana looking further inwards on an album she originally stated would be called Rock Candy Sweet and that she would “continue the thoughts” she had expressed online regarding the controversy around the accusations of cultural appropriation and glamorisation of domestic abuse. But, aside from the odd lyric, Blue Banisters doesn’t do that and lacks the quality of Venice Bitch or Born To Die, or even a surprising earworm like Chemtrails Over the Country Club. 

Stand out tracks like Arcadia hark back to Video Games era Lana, highlighting her incredible lyricism that has always been one of her strongest features, as it continues to be on this album. 

Interlude – The Trio offers a welcome sonic departure from the rest of the album, though it feels jarring on a project where the sameness of the production feels intentional – with the focus on Lana’s lyrical stories. The track Dealer also stands out because it departs from the main sonic themes of the album; however, it, along with Thunder, were written years ago for other projects. While it doesn’t lessen their quality, the inclusion of songs dating back as far as 2013 with more contemporary tracks feels inconsistent. 

The song Beautiful is the album’s saving grace, providing a wonderful message of positivity. Here, Lana sings ‘let me show you how sadness can turn into happiness / I can turn blue into something… beautiful’. A typically melancholic refrain from one of the biggest artists of our time.

6/10

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