Lana Del Rey - Blue Banisters [Review]

2021 was a very big year for American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey, as she released not one but two full-length albums - Chemtrails over the Country Club in March and then Blue Banisters in October. While I am a huge fan of Lana Del Rey and do feel that both albums offer up some gems, I would overall say that they are examples of quality being superior to quantity, as I do think that 2021 makes for the weakest era of Lana's career thus far. Not only do I feel that the music is weaker, I also feel like the buzz around the albums was nowhere near as loud as it was when it came to past albums, especially not Blue Banisters. (After all, Chemtrails over the Country Club had barely been promoted before she started talking about and advertising Blue Banisters.) I might also feel this way, however, because of how much I absolutely adored 2019's Norman Fucking Rockwell! - Del Rey's best album to date with only Ultraviolence competing for that spot. NFR! is a masterpiece that is going to be hard to top as it is, so releasing two albums practically back to back that are, in my opinion, subpar makes it stand out even more. Part of my problem with Blue Banisters is that most of it isn't technically new material, and while I am glad that some of Lana's unreleased material is being remastered and is seeing the proper light of day (and while I also completely sympathize with her frustration around her material being leaked), it makes the album feel more like a compilation than an album. (I will, as I progress through this review, point to which songs are confirmed leftovers from past eras.) It also helps explain how Lana was able to release so much music in such a small window of time (although, with that being said, she has so much unreleased material that it's clear that she has no shortage of inspiration or creativity and I have no doubt that she actually could muster two brand new albums together in less than a year). Without further ado, however, let's move on to actually discussing the album.

The first three tracks on the album are all tracks that I discussed already - "Text Book" (reviewed here), the title track (reviewed in that same post), and "Arcadia" (reviewed here). "Text Book," as I discussed in my review of it, has a beautiful chorus; however, I don't think that it works as an opening track, especially compared to past openers such as "Ride," "Cruel World," "Norman fucking Rockwell," and even "White Dress." "Arcadia" is by far my favorite of the first three tracks, but it is followed by a very strange track that does not sonically belong on the album at all. A short instrumental interlude, the fourth track is titled "Interlude - The Trio," and, in a review of the album, Stuff writer Alex Behan makes this argument regarding the track a lot more eloquently than I ever could even though I feel the exact same way: "Frustratingly, the booming trap beat that makes Interlude - The Trio such an exciting departure turns out to be a false flag. For just a minute, there's the hope Del Rey might be about to burst through her self-created glass ceiling of style, but it turns out to be a mere palette cleanser." While I don't entirely agree with their stance of her style being monotonous (I do think that she has taken risks on tracks such as "High by the Beach," "Summer Bummer," "Groupie Love," and "Cinnamon Girl"), I do definitely think that the past two albums have felt rather monotonous, and "Interlude - The Trio" offers hope that we might be getting some different flavors than the first three tracks offer, but, as Behan puts it, it's a false flag. "Black Bathing Suit" opens and closes with a beautiful keyboard melody that sounds like a lullaby, by far my favorite aspect of the song. It is overall, like most of Del Rey's material of the recent past, a slow-paced piano piece, although it also features gentle guitar and a soft drum beat. It does, however, take a somewhat interesting turn when the chorus slightly changes the pace and the key, almost even making the track sound like a mashup of two different songs. Like "Arcadia," the chorus of this track reminds me a bit of Born to Die's "Video Games," and although this track isn't necessarily a highlight for me on Blue Banisters, I do appreciate its lyrical content, which addresses both the COVID-19 pandemic and the public scrutiny under which Lana has recently fallen for her weight gain.

One of my favorite tracks on Blue Banisters is undoubtedly "If You Lie Down with Me." It is, however, one of many tracks originally intended for an earlier album, having been written during the Ultraviolence sessions. It is another piano ballad, but not only do I love the lulling melody, I adore the outro - a playful and jaunty melody played by a traditional band featuring trumpet and tuba that sounds straight out of a 1930s or 1940s tune. We then get "Beautiful" which is played on the higher end of the piano, keys trilling and fluttering underneath Lana's vocals. I really appreciate the lyrical message of this one, which, to me, is about how negative emotions such as sadness can be transformed into something beautiful such as art. Lana has repeatedly throughout her career referenced the color blue in her lyrics and song titles, such as in "Baby Blue Love," "Blue Jeans," her cover of "Blue Velvet," "Get Free" ("out of the black, into the blue"), "Norman fucking Rockwell" ("...your head in your hands as you color me blue"), this album's title track, etc. She now has an entire album with Blue in its title, and on "Beautiful," she once again references the color, here in both a literal and a metaphorical sense - literally referring to Picasso having frequently painted pictures with mostly blue hues and also referring to blue as a feeling of sadness. "Violets for Roses," another downtempo piano ballad, seems to be about Lana reflecting on a toxic relationship, thankful that she is now free from it. The song, for a couple of reasons, reminds me a great deal of her Violet Bent Backwards over the Grass poem "My Bedroom Is a Sacred Place - There Are Children at the Foot of My Bed," so much so in fact that I feel confident that both pieces were written about the same person. The first parallel is that both reference violets and roses; in this song, Lana sings in the chorus that "you made me trade my violets for roses," and in "My Bedroom Is a Sacred Place...," she writes in the fourth paragraph that "I love rose gardens. I plant violets every time someone leaves me." Secondly, in this song, she sings in the pre-chorus that "ever since I fell out of love with you, I fell back in love with me" which reminds me of a line from the aforementioned poem: "...The more I step into becoming a poet, the less I will fall into being with you."

My #1 favorite song on the album is probably "Dealer," featuring uncredited vocals from Miles Kane. (He takes up so much of the song that I am really not sure why he isn't credited, but I digress.) This song was originally intended to be on a scrapped collaboration album between Lana and The Shadow Puppets (of which Kane is the frontman), as was Norman Fucking Rockwell!'s "California." It was then supposed to be on Chemtrails but didn't make that cut either, and I'm glad that it did get recycled on Blue Banisters (even though a pretty high percentage of Blue Banisters' tracks are, as I said, recycled) because I love it so much, especially since if there is one song on Blue Banisters (aside, of course, from the early instrumental interlude) on which Lana does escape the album's mold and take a bit of a risk, it's "Dealer" (especially because of Lana's vocals which are louder and much more intense than they usually are). "Dealer" is a soft rock song with low bass guitar and keyboards, both of which are heavily washed out by Lana's and Miles Kane's vocals and the steady percussion. It seems to lyrically address depression ("I can't sleep through the tears") and feeling lost in it, like there is no possible way to cure or even relieve it. The speaker tells the addressee not to try to check in on their well-being by contacting people such as their drug dealer, their father, or their doctor because such people cannot possibly know their state of mind better than they themselves do. I also think that there is more than one way to interpret the word dealer. It could be a drug dealer dealing illicit drugs or it could be someone like a psychiatrist or even pharmacist supplying legal drugs like antidepressants. In Lana's entrance to the track (as it begins solely with Miles), she seems to be addressing a lover with whom she has had a toxic, one-sided relationship, so the dealer could even be someone "dealing" intimacy. We then get "Thunder," which is another song originally intended for the aforementioned album with The Shadow Puppets. A demo version of the song actually leaked a few years ago, and even though "Thunder" is still one of my favorite songs on Blue Banisters, I very much prefer the demo version, as it has a lot more energy and is a lot more anthemic. It's a bit stripped down here, possibly to fit the album's overall downbeat energy.

I discussed "Wildflower Wildfire" already here, and the next three tracks are all tracks confirmed to be from the Ultraviolence sessions. "Nectar of the Gods" is another one that leaked a few years ago, previously under the titles "Wild on You" and "Color Blue" (another reference to blue!). It was written, along with "If You Lie Down with Me," nearly a decade ago during the Ultraviolence sessions, and one of the reasons why I am kind of frustrated with its inclusion here is because it, along with the next two tracks, was not re-recorded and has undergone absolutely no changes (other than likely having been remastered) from its leaked demo version. Like I said, these inclusions make Blue Banisters feel more like a compilation album with a few new songs than a new album, and while, like I said, I completely understand Lana's anger and frustration around these songs having been leaked (which she addressed in a live video to fans), the reality of it is that they did leak and she knew that they leaked, so why not finally release that unreleased collection like she teased so long ago instead of releasing a bunch of previously leaked material under the pretense of it being a new album? It's just really frustrating to me as a fan because, like I said, it doesn't really feel like an album. Anyway, I digress. "Nectar of the Gods" is played primarily on acoustic guitar, and I really like the haunting chanting at the very beginning. I also love its references to Ultraviolence's opening track "Cruel World": "What cruel world is this?" and "I get wild and fuckin' crazy." I have always loved "Living Legend," ever since I heard it when it leaked. It is a piano ballad with a lulling, beautiful melody and lyrics in which Lana holds a hero in high esteem. (She has stated that it was written about her first mentor Jane Powers, hence the line about a "sweet baby Jane.") As previously stated, this is another song that was written and recorded for Ultraviolence (once again not being re-recorded or remixed for Blue Banisters) and consequently, like "Nectar of the Gods," bears another lyrical parallel to an Ultraviolence track, this time to the upbeat "Florida Kilos" when she sings in the bridge that "I got guns in the summertime."

"Cherry Blossom" is yet another song from the Ultraviolence sessions that didn't undergo any changes. Several years before it leaked, Lana previewed it by singing it live on Instagram, referring to it as "a lullaby I wrote years ago." Another piano ballad, it is a beautiful song from the perspective of a mother comforting her daughter, and it once again draws parallels to "Cruel World" when, in the bridge, she sings that "it's a cruel, cruel world, but we don't care." Blue Banisters then closes with... you guessed it, a piano ballad! According to Genius, "Sweet Carolina" is a love letter to her sister Chuck Grant. It is clear that the two are very close; Chuck is a photographer who has shot most of the album covers so far, and she also appears in a lot of the photos featured with the art of the physical copy of this album. She appears in some of Lana's music videos such as "Summertime (The Gershwin Version)" and "Blue Banisters," and "Blue Banisters" even name drops her in its lyrics: "Chucky's makin' birthday cake." Given that Chuck did recently have a child, that could be why there seems to be a recurrent theme of motherhood on the album (and could have impacted Del Rey's decision to include "Cherry Blossom"), such as in "Blue Banisters" when Lana declares that "there's a baby on the way." It's a nice enough song but isn't in my opinion musically dramatic enough to work as the closing. Although not on Blue Banisters since it was just recently released in early 2022, Lana did also release a new song titled "Watercolor Eyes" for the HBO TV series Euphoria. The song is believed to have been written specifically for Euphoria, although it does reference an as-of-yet to be released (or heard, since it hasn't leaked) track titled "Rock Candy Sweet" (which was also originally meant to be the Blue Banisters album title): "I think that you taste like rock candy, sweet like beaches..." It's a really beautiful song that reminds me so much of Ultraviolence with its softly strumming electric guitar resembling that album's slow surf rock sound as found on tracks like "Cruel World" and "Pretty When You Cry." Overall, Blue Banisters is a decent album but definitely not her strongest, and I just, as I said, wish that if she is going to release songs that fans have already heard, either advertise the album as a compilation of old recordings or re-record the songs like she did with "Thunder," but at the end of the day, it's her music, and the art is her vision.

Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour / star-crossed [Review]

Early last year, Kacey Musgraves' fourth studio album Golden Hour resonated with me in a special way, in an indescribable way that music only connects to me when it comes to a select few artists. I pretty quickly became a serious fan of Kacey after that, purchasing all of her albums and eagerly awaiting news of her fifth album which was said to be coming out later in the year (which, obviously, it did). When I first heard Golden Hour and fell in love with it, I was in a new relationship and was very, very happy. I truly believed that I was deeply in love and that - maybe, just maybe - I had finally found the one after years of heartbreak and betrayal, so several of the album's tracks (especially one in particular which I will discuss more at length throughout this review) were very relatable for me, but as was the case with the one chronicled on Golden Hour, my relationship was not meant to be, and it ended up falling apart in mid-March after he spent days gaslighting me by suddenly treating me with newfound indifference and distance but insisting that nothing was wrong when I asked (until finally being honest with me and admitting that he had been leading me on). I am not here to talk about that relationship (if it can honestly even be called that) falling apart, however; I only bring it up because of its personal relevance to these two albums for me (although my situation was nowhere near as dramatic or as serious as Kacey's marriage and divorce were). You see, I have intended for a long time to review and discuss Golden Hour on here, but it, for some reason, kept ending up on the back-burner, and it ended up working out because I think that I was meant to talk about these two albums together, as I think that they should be. star-crossed ultimately is Golden Hour 2, except that it couldn't realistically be titled that because it is thematically Golden Hour's opposite. The two albums pair together similarly to how Björk's two albums Vulnicura and Utopia pair together, except whereas Utopia is the heaven to Vulnicura's hell, star-crossed is the hell to Golden Hour's heaven.

Golden Hour was released in early spring 2018 to overwhelmingly positive reviews, eventually winning Album of the Year and Best Country Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in 2019. Prior to my first having heard it early last year, I was, for a few months, vaguely familiar with Kacey for two reasons: (1) she had done her own folksy rendition of the Frozen II song "All Is Found" on the movie's soundtrack, and (2) she had collaborated with three other artists that I listen(ed) to - Troye Sivan, Lana Del Rey, and Harry Styles. Although I can't recall for certain, those are likely the reasons that I decided to dip into the album, and I sure am glad that I did. The album opens with the acoustic song "Slow Burn," a critically acclaimed song that even went on to inspire a candle. (See picture below.) "Born in a hurry, always late; haven't been early since '88," Musgraves opens with her soft, delicate voice that I love so much. (Seriously, her voice brings me so much peace. Her cover of Keane's "Somewhere Only We Know" sounds like what I imagine paradise would song like if it were a song.) It's a clever line lyrically because it references her birth in 1988 and sets up the premise of the song, which is about a new relationship blossoming, with Musgraves making the declaration in the chorus that "I'm all right with a slow burn," meaning that she is okay with not rushing into things. A majority of the album is about Kacey's ex-husband, country singer Ruston Kelly (with whom she actually once collaborated), as is star-crossed, and this song definitely makes for a great prelude to the story. One of the main reasons why I love Golden Hour is its effective use of the banjo, an instrument that gives many of these tracks a magical quality, and although there are other songs that do it even more effectively, it's definitely used well on "Slow Burn." "Butterflies" is probably my favorite song on Golden Hour, and it is the song that I associated with my ex-boyfriend last year because it so precisely describes how I felt with him. It is such a beautiful, feel-good song with fluttering banjo and guitar strings and an upbeat, poppy beat. In a recent interview with Zane Lowe, Zane complimented Golden Hour on so effectively capturing what new love feels like. I couldn't agree more, and I think that it's especially prevalent on this song.

Some of the tracks on Golden Hour can probably best be described as electro-country, which I think really goes to show how special that this album is. It experiments with different genres of music, including country, folk, Americana, pop, electronica, and so forth. "Oh, What a World" is a great example, as it begins with electronically filtered (if not electronic altogether) vocals singing the lyrics of the chorus somewhat robotically and monotonously. The song is lyrically expressing gratitude and appreciation for the beautiful aspects of nature, mentioning things like the northern lights, plants, and things that swim with a neon glow. It sort of takes a turn at the end of the chorus when Kacey sings, "...and then there was you." It's as if she is saying, "Yes, the world is alive with magic and beauty, but it's nothing compared to your beauty." My favorite part of the song is the strumming banjo after she sings "...and then there was you," and, in fact, Kacey ended up rerecording the song for Earth Day, and I don't like that version anywhere near as much as I like the album version because it doesn't feature that banjo part which I think just gives the song this magical touch. "Mother" is a very short piano ballad running at only one minute and eighteen seconds. It's absolutely beautiful both melodically and lyrically. Talking about her mother, Kacey sings, "...Wish we didn't live so far from each other. I'm just sitting here thinking 'bout the time that's slipping and missing my mother..." You can tell that Kacey is close with her family; not only because of this song (the music video of which even actually features her mother) but also because she even had her grandmother (whom she calls Nana) appear on her Christmas special a few years ago. We then get "Love Is a Wild Thing" which I think might be my second favorite song next to "Butterflies." It's a soft, acoustic song and is another example of a banjo being used in a powerful and emotional way. "Love Is a Wild Thing" is another song like "Butterflies" that I think beautifully captures the innocence and beauty of newfound love, as it is lyrically about love being an unseen force that works in beautiful ways and cannot be stopped.

I absolutely love "Space Cowboy" but do kind of feel that it feels out of place on the album, not sonically but definitely thematically, especially coming right after "Love Is a Wild Thing." After all, she sings on "Love Is a Wild Thing" that "there's no way to stop [love], but they'll try to" but then here sings that "sunsets fade, and love does, too." The song, which is a rather downcast ballad driven by piano and acoustic guitar, lyrically addresses a relationship that seems to be nearing an end: "I know my place, and it ain't with you. Well, sunsets fade, and love does too. We had our day in the sun. When a horse wants to run, there ain't no sense in closing the gate. You can have your space, cowboy." It seems to be a breakup song whereas most of the album is focused on the polar opposite of that, leading me to believe that if it was written about anyone in particular, it probably wasn't the same person. "Happy & Sad" is another track to which I want to call attention because it's one to which I can really relate. It's lyrically about being apprehensive when you're happy because you're afraid of something bad being around the corner: "...I'm the kind of person who starts getting kind of nervous when I'm having the time of my life." She then goes on to address who is likely her lover in the chorus: "Is there a word for the way that I'm feeling tonight?" she asks rhetorically in the fluctuating, wavering chorus. "Happy and sad at the same time. You got me smiling with tears in my eyes." In that way, it acts as somewhat of a precursor to star-crossed, as does "Wonder Woman" which is, in my opinion, a sister song to one of star-crossed's tracks (which I will discuss when I discuss star-crossed). "Velvet Elvis" is another highlight for me, probably my third favorite following "Love Is a Wild Thing" and "Butterflies." It's jaunty and catchy, and I love how Kacey's vocals have this filtered, tinny effect to them. It is one of the more upbeat songs on the album and returns to the lovey-dovey nature of the album overall. Kacey, in the song, compares her lover to a Velvet Elvis painting, depicting him as a beautiful work of art worthy of being shown off and displayed: "You're my Velvet Elvis," she enthuses in the chorus. "I ain't never gonna take you down. Making everybody jealous when they step into my house."

"High Horse" is definitely another highlight on Golden Hour, especially because of how ridiculously catchy that it is, perhaps even the catchiest song on the album. It's another outlier thematically, however, even more so than "Space Cowboy," because not only is it not a lovey-dovey song, it's pretty critical toward a negative person similar to the song "Step Off" from her first album Same Trailer Different Park. In fact, "Step Off" and "High Horse" are so thematically similar that I wonder if they might be about the same person. (Kacey did once address who "High Horse" is about, saying that she'll never tell but that it's not about just one person in particular.) I love this song so much because of all of the different genres that it blends together, making it the most experimental track on the album, bringing together country, pop, funk, and disco. You then get the title track, a soft country-pop acoustic song that acts as another serenade to her lover: "...You're my golden hour," she croons in the chorus, "the color of my sky. You set my world on fire, and I know, I know everything's going to be all right." The album then closes with another favorite of mine - an absolutely gorgeous piano ballad titled "Rainbow." The song features a very touching music video in which Kacey appears to be some sort of guardian angel guiding people through tough times which is definitely fitting for the song's theme: "Well, the sky has finally opened," she encourages us in the soaring chorus. "The rain and wind stopped blowin', but you're stuck out in the same old storm again. You hold tight to your umbrella. Well, darlin', I'm just tryin' to tell ya that there's always been a rainbow hangin' over your head." It's a beautiful closer to a beautiful album, although the Japanese edition does include three additional tracks (as well as an alternate cover which is the one featured above) - "Merry Go Round," "Follow Your Arrow," and "High Horse (Violents Remix)." Although great songs with catchy hooks, the first two are recycled from her debut album Same Trailer Different Park and are not even new versions or re-recordings, so I am not sure what they are doing here, but I absolutely love the remix of "High Horse." It has even more of a retro, disco feel than the album version.

After a Christmas special (which featured a brand new holiday song with Troye Sivan) in 2019, Kacey followed Golden Hour up with star-crossed in September of 2021. As already stated, it is in a lot of ways the darkness to Golden Hour's light. The opening title track even states, "...and then the darkness came." As also previously stated, Golden Hour is primarily about Kacey's ex-husband Ruston Kelly and her blossoming relationship with him, whereas star-crossed is primarily about their split and divorce. It opens with the aforementioned title track, which is, hands down, one of the best songs of her career thus far, definitely the most haunting. As I said, it's emotionally haunting, not only because of its ghostly chanting at the beginning and its sorrowful melody but also because of its atmospheric instrumental, featuring softly strumming Spanish guitar, harp, and electronic warbling paired with subdued electric guitar. It is one of Kacey's more ambitious songs and is definitely, as I said, one of her most emotional. It works so well as the opening track, especially with the opening line being "Let me set the scene, two lovers ripped right at the seams," an obvious reference to Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Romeo + Juliet (with Kacey herself saying in her interview with Zane Lowe that the album is a tragedy in three acts). At the very beginning of the next song, in fact, titled "good wife," we hear Kacey's filtered voice say just above a whisper, "Let's go back to the beginning." "good wife" is an acoustic track peppered with electronic production and features such a melodically powerful and catchy chorus, with Musgraves borrowing some of what works on Golden Hour with her electronically filtered vocals. Upon first listen, it seems to be a submissive song, desiring to be a "good wife" in a traditional patriarchal sense: "Wake him up nice and slow, bring him coffee in bed," she describes in the first verse. "Listen to his problems, tell him that I understand." However, when the song is paired with the visuals of its music video (featured in the star-crossed film on Paramount+) along with a song featured later on the album, I think that it becomes clearer that it's meant to be somewhat subversive, possibly even suggesting that that pull toward being a more traditional wife could be in part what led to the split.

"cherry blossom" is one of my favorite songs on the album, and with Kacey having said in that interview with Zane that "good wife" was one of the first songs written for star-crossed (with it, in fact, actually having been written close to the end of Golden Hour's cycle), I definitely think that "cherry blossom" might have been written right around the same time, especially since I can clearly hear it being on Golden Hour in my head, as it would work both musically and thematically. It is, in my opinion at least, one of her most poppiest songs to date, with a poppy beat and a bit of a Western influence in the production (which is not coincidental given that Japan is known for its cherry blossoms and that Musgraves even directly name drops Tokyo in the chorus: "I hope you haven't forgotten Tokyo wasn't built in a day"). "simple times" kind of briefly steps away from the star-crossed lovers story to address nostalgia and, as the title would suggest, missing when things were (or at least seemed) simpler. It's another ridiculously catchy number and is another highlight for me, featuring an empowering music video with guest stars such as Victoria Pedretti (of The Haunting and You fame) and drag queen Symone. I love the sing-songy chorus and feel-good energy of the song, with my favorite part being the fluttering instrumental part following the chorus. With "star-crossed" having been the first single released from the album, "justified" was the second, and it's yet another highlight for me, possibly even my second favorite track next to "star-crossed." It is lyrically one of the rawest and most brutally honest songs of Kacey's catalog so far, examining the various emotions that one feels during a time of grieving: "If I cry just a little and then laugh in the middle," she jauntily asserts in the chorus, "if I hate you and then I love you and then I change my mind, if I need just a little more time to deal with the fact that you shoulda treated me right, I'm more than just a little justified." The song is one of many examples of why I don't agree with Kacey's stance that star-crossed is more country-influenced than Golden Hour is, as it is yet another poppy song. Although there is soft acoustic guitar throughout, there is also a heavy classically pop beat in the chorus.

I do want to briefly call attention to "angel" because it is the song that I mentioned earlier that I think of as a sister song to Golden Hour's "Wonder Woman." On "Wonder Woman," Musgraves asserts that while she does her best to be a great partner to her significant other, she is only human and can't be perfect. The theme on "angel" (a slow, acoustic ballad with thunder sound effects and Kacey's soft and delicate voice nearly drowning out the softly strumming guitar) is similar: "If I was an angel," she laments in the opening, "I wouldn't have to try. So hard to save you or show you how to fly... You'd only get the best of me." I briefly alluded to the next song on star-crossed earlier in this review when I said that there was a song later on the album that functioned as somewhat of an antithesis to "good wife," and that is "breadwinner." "breadwinner" is melodically one of the more playful and jaunty tunes on the album, and it addresses an ex-lover (likely Ruston Kelly) who doesn't bring in as much money as she does and eventually feels insecure about not being the primary provider. The earlier mentioned "good wife" music video depicts a militant school teaching young women how to be proper, subservient wives (which is why I made the statement that the song is most likely meant to, on some levels, be sarcastic and subversive), while the music video for "breadwinner" (the only music video released thus far that is not directly taken from the star-crossed film) fittingly depicts Kacey and her friends and colleagues working and having fun behind the scenes of the star-crossed film. star-crossed then offers up "camera roll," and it's hard for me to choose between "justified" and "camera roll" when it comes to my second favorite song from the album. "camera roll" is so hauntingly beautiful and emotionally devastating, with atmospheric synth and acoustic guitar that gently flutters in a way that almost makes it sound like harp. It almost sounds like a lullaby, but its lyrics, as I said, are a gut-punch, and I think that it's a song to which I think a lot of people can relate - not wanting to delete photos of someone no longer in our lives because we aren't ready to completely let go even though they're painful. "Don't go through your camera roll," she warns us at the very beginning of the song, and to paraphrase Yoda, if into the camera roll you go, only pain will you find.

The final act of the album is the weakest part of the album in my opinion, although I do really like "what doesn't kill me" and "there is a light." I really like how the album reaches a really hopeful note as it approaches its conclusion. In the acoustic but poppy "what doesn't kill me," Kacey exuberantly exclaims that "what doesn't kill me better run," and I love how she name drops the preceding album in the pre-chorus: "I've been to hell and back. Golden hour faded black." (Starting to better understand why I am reviewing these two albums together?) I really like "there is a light" because it's another really ambitious one. Like "High Horse," it's almost like it can't decide what genre of music that it wants to be, bringing in elements of pop, country, disco, and even a little bit of jazz. The song is thematically similar to "what doesn't kill me" as it lyrically addresses coming out of hardship stronger, and my favorite part is near the end of the song when Kacey sort of half sings and half speaks that "there is a light inside of me, uh-huh" over an aggressively oscillating flute. The album then closes with a cover of Violeta Parra's "gracias a la vida," a great way to close the album as it put a nice cap on the last few tracks that are more hopeful in nature. The song, entirely in Spanish, expresses gratitude to life (the song title translates to "thanks to life") for everything that it has provided (which reminds me a lot of "Oh, What a World," although the original version of "gracias a la vida" is a really tragic song given that it was one of the last that Parra wrote and recorded before her suicide). This cover version's production quality and style repeatedly changes (although it is consistently driven by acoustic guitar), something that Kacey addresses in the oft mentioned interview with Zane Lowe. Despite the fact that she has come under fire for choosing a Spanish song to cover even though she is not Latinx (a ridiculous attack if you ask me especially given the numerous white musicians who have covered "Feliz Navidad") and was also accused of not properly accrediting Parra, Kacey also, in that interview, explained her reasoning for choosing this song to cover and also absolutely brings Parra into the conversation. Overall, I think that Golden Hour is a stronger album, but I love both so much and can't wait to see what's next.

Harry Styles - Harryween - Live at Madison Square Garden [Saturday, 10/30/21] [Review]

Flashback to spring of 2020 (nearly two years ago now), my best friend and I made plans to see Harry Styles in New York City on Friday, October 30, but shortly after that, the COVID-19 problem was declared a pandemic, and the show was eventually postponed to the same date but in 2021. It was disappointing news but also understandable, and Harry was definitely worth the wait! The show was at Madison Square Garden (my first show at the venue, although the venue was very similar to the Barclays Center where I saw Madonna in 2015), and my friend and I were shocked to see how packed the show was. It was sold out (which makes sense not only because of how popular that Harry is but also because of the long delay, giving people more time to purchase tickets), and the line (even though we arrived fairly early) was wrapped around several blocks. It seemed to just go on and on, and one point, I even remember thinking, Surely, this many people can't even fit inside the building. As I said, however, I had never been to MSG so didn't really know what to expect. What was most perplexing to us, though, was how quickly the line had formed. When we first hit up MSG, there was no one there, so we hit up a nearby bakery / coffee shop to kill some time. When we returned to Madison Square Garden, however, the never-ending line was there even though not much time had passed (maybe 30-45 minutes). Opening for him was Madison Cunningham (whom we missed entirely because with the line being as long as it was, they did not open the doors early enough) and Orville Peck. I had not heard of Madison Cunningham before, but I was and am a fan of Orville, whose style of country music is akin to old-school country music like Hank Williams, Elvis Presley, and Johnny Cash. I was kind of disappointed by how short his set was, however; it was only seven songs, and he didn't play my favorite song of his - "Roses Are Falling."

Something that surprised me about the concert is that there wasn't really all that long of a wait after Orville Peck finished his set before Harry Styles came on, or at least it didn't feel all that long. Our seats weren't fantastic. We were up fairly high in the arena and had a side view of the stage, but there were big screens around the arena that showed you video footage of the stage, so I guess that it didn't matter much. The crowd went wild when Harry took to the stage, as you can probably imagine, especially since, with it being Harryween, he was dressed as Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz, blue and white dress and ruby red slippers and all. His entire band, in fact, was dressed as characters from The Wizard of Oz, and it was just wonderful. He opened with "Golden," the opening track from his second studio album, Fine Line, and then gave us the playful and jaunty "Carolina" from the first (self-titled) album. "Adore You" then came next which honestly surprised me because with it being such a huge hit, I expected it to be closer to the end if not the encore. The crowd went crazy when the hits started playing, but then again, the crowd went crazy for just about every single song. (Harry, after all, has always had very excited, very passionate fans, ever since his days with One Direction.) The show soon dialed it down several notches with a few sad songs - "To Be So Lonely," "Cherry," "She," and "Falling," but this was honestly one of my favorite segments of the concert, especially during "Cherry" because several times throughout the song, Harry was choking up and wiping tears away. The song (as is likely a good deal of Fine Line) is said to be about his ex-girlfriend Camille Rowe, and you could definitely tell from how emotional and vulnerable that he got during this performance that that split really did a number on him. "Falling" is one of my favorite songs of Harry's, so I was so happy that he performed that one, and I especially love that he started it with a snippet of "Two Ghosts" (leading one to wonder if maybe both songs are about the same person).

Harry then brought the energy back up with "Lights Up" which was another emotional aspect of the concert because, with the song widely believed to be about Harry addressing his bisexuality, someone had somehow arranged to have different colored pieces of paper distributed around the crowd (I think that ours were orange) that we shone cell phone flashlights through so that the crowd created a rainbow wave, and it was absolutely beautiful. He then did two more songs from Fine Line, but before he did that, he did something to which I have to call attention because of how serendipitous that it was. October 30, 2021 was actually my best friend's thirtieth birthday, and there was another young woman present who was also celebrating her thirtieth birthday that day to whom Harry sang "Harry Birthday to You." (I guess that she was holding up a sign stating that it was her birthday, and Harry saw it.) This must have been the part of the show where he did some extended interaction with the crowd because a few shows later on this tour (titled Love on Tour), this spot is where he helped a fan come out to her mother. He then went into "Canyon Moon," and I loved this rendition of it because it was a tad more upbeat than the album version, featuring an extra beat. That then quickly segued into "Treat People with Kindness" which made me so happy because that is one of my absolute favorite songs of his. Harry's peppy energy throughout the show was infectious, as he frequently skipped across the stage, arms swinging side to side as he did so, and his energy was definitely on blast during this song. He also waved a rainbow flag on stage at one point during the song, and my heart was just so happy. We then got what I am sure some fans had been waiting all night for. Harry, after all, can't go an entire concert without honoring his roots, so he had to do a One Direction song, and naturally, he chose the band's biggest hit. While I am not a huge 1D fan (I have tried over and over again to be one, but I just can't), there are a handful of songs that I do really love, with "What Makes You Beautiful" not necessarily being one of them, so it wouldn't have been the 1D song that I would have chosen, but I digress.

The remainder of the concert was technically an encore, but the time had gone by so quickly that I thought that it was an intermission and that he was doing a costume change, so I was surprised when he came back on the stage still dressed as Dorothy. This was my absolute favorite part of the show for two reasons - (1) this is where he played "Sign of the Times," my favorite song of his, and (2) he segued "Sign of the Times" into an absolutely beautiful cover of "Over the Rainbow," obviously fitting given his costume. It's such a beautiful song with beautiful lyrics as it is, but Harry's raw and heartfelt voice made it even more so, and I got emotional, especially with it coming off the emotional high of "Sign of the Times." Following this is when he played a more recent hit, "Watermelon Sugar." This song and "Adore You" are definitely the two biggest hits from Fine Line, so I definitely expected one or the other to be part of the encore, but what surprised me is that he didn't close with "Watermelon Sugar" but instead closed with "Kiwi," although there are certainly no complaints from me because "Kiwi" is one of my favorite tracks from Harry Styles. It made for a great closer because it's one of his heavier, more rock-oriented songs, so it closed the show on a high-energy note. Harry then appropriately clasped his ruby red slippers together three times and exited the stage, ending the concert, and I was initially under the impression that there was no encore because I didn't realize that everything from "Sign of the Times" on was the encore. I don't have much to say in the way of complaints about this show, but I do have a couple. (1) My three favorite songs of Harry's are "Sign of the Times," "Treat People with Kindness," and "Sunflower, Vol. 6," so I was really disappointed that he didn't play "Sunflower, Vol. 6," but hey, two out of three isn't bad. (2) I was hoping that he would play "Medicine" (fellow fans of Harry will likely understand why), and he did not; he did, however, play it on the second night of Harryween, and when I discovered that, I thought, Really? All in all, however, I had the time of my life at this show, and it was definitely, as I said previously, worth the wait!

Setlist:

1. Golden
2. Carolina
3. Adore You
4. Only Angel
5. To Be So Lonely
6. Cherry
7. She
8. Two Ghosts / Falling
9. Lights Up
10. Happy Birthday to You
11. Canyon Moon
12. Treat People with Kindness
13. What Makes You Beautiful
14. Sign of the Times
15. Over the Rainbow
16. Watermelon Sugar
17. Kiwi
    

Ghost - Hunter's Moon - Single [Review]

Swedish metal band Ghost finally released an original song following 2019's single Seven Inches of Satanic Panic (which featured the two songs "Kiss the Go-Goat" and "Mary on a Cross") a few months ago, pumping fans up for the band's upcoming fifth album on the horizon (although a release date has yet to be revealed). The song, titled "Hunter's Moon," was released to promote the Halloween Kills film so is most likely a standalone single that will not be on the album, but even if that does end up being the case, that's not to say that it won't be a bonus track on a deluxe edition or a Target exclusive edition or something like that. "Hunter's Moon" was definitely a grower for me. I wasn't immediately hooked and found it to be an average Ghost song upon my first (and maybe second) listen, but it quickly grew on me and even became one of my favorite songs of their catalogue thus far. It's so melodically and sonically powerful and has an '80s hair metal vibe to it, a vibe which reminds me a bit of Prequelle (especially songs like "See the Light" and "Dance Macabre"). I especially love the oscillating guitar which quite honestly steals the show, even away from frontman Tobias Forge (masquerading as Papa Emeritus IV)'s vocals, and another one of my favorite parts is Forge's guttural chanting of "Hunt! Hunt! Hunt!" Forge confirmed in an interview that the song was not written specifically for Halloween Kills but that he instantly thought of it when he was asked to write a song for the movie, and the lyrics definitely do work pretty perfectly for the movie. Tobias also stated in that aforementioned interview that the title refers to the hunter's moon seen in October (which is, of course, around Halloween), and the song seems to take the word hunt in multiple directions - a festive one, a somewhat sweet and romantic one, and even a sinister one. There are so many characters whom one could imagine the song's lyrics being from, including Laurie Strode, the town mobsters who are fanatically trying to hunt down and kill Michael Myers, and of course Michael Myers himself. Given that, as previously stated, the song is actually from Forge's unused back catalogue, I do definitely wonder how old that it actually is (especially given that there is also an alternate version of the song that plays in the end credits of the movie that is a very different version and sounds like it might even be an earlier recorded demo), but regardless, I cannot wait for a new Ghost album hopefully dropping this year!

Greyson Chance - 8Track - Single [Review]

"8Track" is one of American pop singer Greyson Chance's best songs released this year if not the best, making it, in my opinion, a real shame that it got such a limited release (being exclusive to Spotify which not all fans even use). It has a soft and steady beat and an infectious rhythm especially in its verses such as the opening verse in which he softly sings at a relatively rapid pace, "Still hurting, and I track my tears on the ceiling, but they never drop down, and I'm dreaming. Why? Still calling, and I blame it all on my temper. Keep that 8 track running 'til it's splintered." Not only is the song so emotional and introspective, it also, as previously touched upon, has a very catchy melody and rhythm, making it that much more tragic, in my opinion, that it is exclusive to Spotify. If, like me, for example, you still live in the caveman days of making mix CDs, you are unable - at least legally (and even illegally, it would be a challenge) - to put this on a mix CD since it is not available to download, only stream. Moving on, however, my personal interpretation of the song is that Chance is addressing personal struggles such as depression and music serving as a remedy. It also seems like he might be addressing casual sex as a coping mechanism: "You don't have to stay forever," he sings in the song's chorus. "Be my passion; be my pleasure 'til I'm lost, until I'm lost." He also asks the addressee of the song to "put that needle on that record; play that 8 track 'til it's splintered...," which I think is meant to be a euphemism with more than one meaning. Most of the song is sung in mid-register, but the chorus is sung in falsetto, Greyson once again showcasing his impressive range and vocal ability. I am not sure precisely when this song was written or recorded, but Greyson did release an album earlier this year titled Trophies, and while I did share my frustrations about that in my review of the album as well as in my review of the soon after released standalone single "Overloved," I am now wondering if, given the title of this song, that was intentional. Maybe Trophies is, in part, his proverbial "8 track," and if so, I would feel a lot better about Trophies being so short because that is absolute genius!

Greyson Chance - Overloved - Single [Review]

Earlier this year (in June), American pop musician Greyson Chance released the follow-up to his 2019 album portraits, this one titled Trophies. As a big fan of Greyson, I was excited about a new album being released but was disappointed when the album only ended up including eight tracks, one of which is a very short track at only one minute in length making the release more of an EP than an album. Especially disappointing, however, was the absence of previously promised inclusions such as "Dancing Next to Me," "Honeysuckle," "Bad to Myself," and "Overloved," with the exclusion of "Overloved" probably disappointing me the most because we had not yet heard a studio version of the song. Several months later, however (in September), Chance finally released the song as yet another standalone single, and although I still wish that it had been included on Trophies (especially since that would have made Trophies a more complete work), I am really happy that we finally have a studio version of the song, especially because it's such a beautiful song. "Overloved" is a piano ballad that eventually brings in a steady but soft beat as well as what sounds like a small choir underneath Chance's voice, which stays in mid-range throughout the entirety of the track. It is lyrically pretty straightforward, a love letter to a lover (it's unclear as to whether or not it's about his current boyfriend Ben, given the age of the song) whose touch makes Greyson feel... you guessed it - overloved. It's interesting because I think that this song is the first time that I have seen the word overloved used. The over part implies that it's excessive in a negative way, but he doesn't seem to mean it in a negative way; the lover addressed in the song seems to make Greyson feel blessed, and like "Holy Feeling," in fact, there is a religious reference used in the song when, at the end of the first verse, he sings, "There's a reason why you left your ex at that church. Keep on praying for forgiveness." Since releasing "Overloved," Greyson has released yet another standalone single titled "8Track," but it is unfortunately exclusive to Spotify, and I use YouTube Music. I can't understand a decision like that which alienates a large portion of your fanbase, but here is to hoping that it eventually gets a wider release.

Lana Del Rey - Arcadia - Single [Review]

 

"Arcadia" is the fourth single released from Lana Del Rey's upcoming ninth studio album Blue Banisters, and it is by far my favorite of the four. Preceded by the title track, "Text Book," and "Wildflower Wildfire" (all three of which I reviewed here), "Arcadia" reminds me a great deal of Born to Die's hit "Video Games" and her pre Born to Die demo "Afraid," especially in its melody. As has been typical of much of Lana's music especially since 2019's masterpiece Norman Fucking Rockwell!, the song is a ballad driven by piano, and it features a lot of the same themes that she has been implementing on recent works such as poetry book and spoken word album Violet Bent Backwards over the Grass and Chemtrails over the Country Club - themes such as her love of California (especially the Los Angeles area) and her personifying of it, such as she does on the Violet poem "LA Who Am I to Love You." "Arcadia, Arcadia," Lana addresses the Los Angeles County city in the song's angelic chorus, "all roads that lead to you as integral to me as arteries that get the blood flowing straight to the heart of me." The song, in large part because of its aforementioned melodic resemblance to "Video Games" in its verses, makes me feel nostalgic about Lana's old days, reminding me a lot of Born to Die and Paradise. It's such a light and beautiful song, and I am hopeful that it is representative of what most of Blue Banisters has to offer, especially since, as I said, it's definitely my favorite of the four singles so far.