Whether it’s the Fiona Apple-esque, art-rock style present as she rides the downbeats of the piano in the introduction of the title song “Text Book,” the calming, ambient piano redolent of Brian Eno throughout “Beautiful” or her vocal progression in the pre-chorus of “Thunder” that resembles David Bowie’s pre-choruses in “Starman,” Del Rey showcases her ability to weave together various works of the past and synthesize them with her own creative spins.Īt times, her vocals are so soft that her voice breaks, aurally matching her recurring motif of tragic beauty. Sonically, this album is replete with soothing vocals as each song blends into the next, and her experimentation with new sounds has audibly been influenced by other great artists. However, the younger sibling has genuine, vulnerable lyrics and fresh sounds that will keep long-time fans guessing what Del Rey will do next, while still being pleasantly surprised about what she’s working on right now. “Blue Banisters” can be seen as a sister album to her preceding release earlier this year, “Chemtrails Over the Country Club.” The older sister has quite a few songs that are downright boring and lacking in the glamorous soundscapes and catchily seductive choruses that she’s known for (some even have problematic lyrics where Del Rey exaggerates the adversity of her come-up, as if she had any money problems while living under her development mogul father ). With lyrics poetically capturing the signs of her times ambient, minimalistic instrumentals and her most experimental and well-developed vocals to date, Del Rey breaks into autumn with a sonic time capsule replete with timeless motifs. She has a unique ability to “turn blue into something / Beautiful,” as the indie-pop star sings on the track titled “Beautiful.” We live in a time of an invisible disease debilitating everyday life, and Del Rey found a way to grapple with this, and other struggles, through art. And that’s what this project is - a collection of beautiful dreams: hopes for the future during a time when the present feels so bleak. The record is so calming and beautiful that if you were to fall asleep to it, you would dream beautiful dreams. It was when I got to the 10th song, “Thunder,” on Lana Del Rey’s eighth studio album, “Blue Banisters,” that I realized how good of an album this is - for napping.
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