Lana’s latest seems destined to be lost among grander statements, but is nonetheless another worthy work of self-exploration from one of music’s most introspective stars. Few pop artists in recent years have oscillated between mass adoration and mass infamy as regularly as Lana Del…
Album Roundup — March 2021 | Part 1: Lana Del Rey, Drake, Adult Mom
Lana Del Rey Few pop artists in recent years have oscillated between mass adoration and mass infamy as regularly as Lana Del Rey, recipient of both gendered media controversies and well-reasoned criticism regarding depictions of desire/female agency in her music. Del Rey’s latest dust-up…
Lana’s latest might be branded as spoken-word poetry, but Violet still features the introspective lyricism, emotional vulnerability, and intelligent songcraft we’ve come to expect from the singular artist. The prospect of a book of poetry from Lana Del Rey might seem, to anyone familiar with the…
Lana Del Rey The prospect of a book of poetry from Lana Del Rey might seem, to anyone familiar with the songs that made her famous and her accompanying image, like a rupture in the delicate fabric of her chic Americana branding, taking her…
The Last Word from Your Editor, Sam C. Mac: With the 2010s officially over, the time seems right for another departure: after 12 years (with a small break in the middle), I’m stepping down as this site’s Editor-in-Chief, to be succeeded by co-founder (and unapologetic…
2019 was another faithful year that reminded us that there’s no hope whatsoever for anything: Our political system continues to fail us in a remarkable number of ways, cultural institutions continue to decay from lack of funding and relevancy, and the nearly-decade long rise…
It often seems like we’ve let Lana Del Rey down at every turn. But she’s always been patient enough to wait for us to come around to her side of things — and kind enough to not hold a grudge against those who don’t…
The best songs and albums released over the last 12 months found a way to subvert a hopeless political reality, to move and inspire us by striving for change. A Chinese rap group broke through to an international audience; a singer-songwriter sincerely mounted a…
It’s way too late to call this a “halftime” feature (we were busy watching a whole lot of asian movies), so let’s just call it an end-of-summer(-ish) survey of some of 2017’s best albums. We polled our staff and came up with a typically eclectic list, which includes an often maligned “pop star,” an…