Lana Del Rey - Honeymoon

For album number four, Lana Del Rey amps up the gloomy, theatrical, noir bent of her sound. Featuring her cooing over a lush orchestra, the minimalist title track opens the album and wouldn't sound out of place on a 50s movie soundtrack. "We both know that it's not fashionable to love me," she serenades, and with that, any fears of her sounding like other current chart acts are pleasantly dashed. Del Rey simply follows her own path.

'Music to Watch Boys to' is awash in echoey, layered vocals and an oh-so-gentle beat. 'Terrance Loves You' is a pretty guitar/string ballad with Del Rey stretching her chops to higher reaches. 'God Knows I Tried' is an enchanting spaghetti western-style ballad. 'High By the Beach' has skittery hip hop-ish beats drifting in and out, elevating it above the funereal pace of much of the album, as does the similar spectacular "Religion" - both reminiscent of "Summertime Sadness". "Freak" is haunting trip hop, like Tricky meets AKA Twigs, while the glamorous "Salvatore" is (in her words) old world Italian, set to a delicate shuffle.

She turns in a rather nasal (yet pleasant) performance on "The Blackest Day"; "Ever since my baby went away, it's been the blackest day" she laments against ghostly harmonies. Closing the album is "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", a Nina Simone cover which finds her using more of her "full" voice with sweeping strings, piano and faint guitars.

She rarely strays from her comfort zone, but with music this beautiful, she doesn't need to.