Exposure - Lana Del Rey
The 'Videogames' singer's second stab at stardom looks set to be a sure thing
The List hesitates not a moment in declaring this picture of dusky American pop perfection a star in the making – how could the self-styled ‘gangsta Nancy Sinatra’ not be? The New Yorker’s debut single ‘Video Games’ – a YouTube sensation that’s scored more than 1.5 million plays since mid-August [see below] – has made her the toast of all from Pitchfork to daytime Radio 1, and she’s been selling out shows on the strength of subsequent curiosity alone.
Whoa there, isn’t Rebecca Black a ‘YouTube sensation’?
Del Rey’s no purveyor of laughably literal kiddy-pop – sultry, sophisticated and smoky, the 24-year-old’s stuff seems aimed distinctly at grown-ups. Set to a mournful piano and shivering strings, ‘Video Games’ weighs heavy with the everyday sadness of a woman repeatedly scorned by a man who’d rather play Xbox than get X-rated.
She’s not exactly tough on the eye – how do I get that look?
Mix two parts 60s Hollywood starlet with one part trailer-trash vixen. Serve with a twist of hip hop honey and a pout you could hang your coat on.
Hmm, it all sounds a bit too good to be true.
Del Rey’s 4-realness is questionable – this is not her first coming as an artist: she released an EP in 2009 under her given name Lizzy Grant, and made a whole album with über-producer David Kahne, which was mysteriously shelved. Shady music biz forces have evidently conspired behind the scenes to help to craft a package so complete, but Del Rey insists that she writes her own songs and makes her own videos, and if they’re all as good as ‘Video Games’, who cares?
Oran Mor, Glasgow, Sat 5 Nov. ‘Video Games / Blue Jeans’ is available to download from Sunday 16 October. A limited 7” vinyl picture disc is released on Monday 17 October on Stranger Records.