Lust for Life

Lana Del Rey knows perfectly well her Lust for Life sounds sleepy in comparison to Iggy Pop's full-blooded roar, but that doesn't mean the title of her fourth album is ironic. Compared to her previous albums, especially its somnolent 2015 predecessor, Honeymoon, Lust for Life is positively ebullient in tone, if not in tempo. Lana Del Rey may sing about a "Summer Bummer" but the song isn't in sway to a narcotic undertow; it simmers, offering a cool bit of seduction for muggy August nights. LDR retains this delicate balance throughout the lengthy Lust for Life (at 71 minutes, this is an album as playlist, designed to be looped over and over as mood music), never quite succumbing to either despair or ecstasy but rather finding a place where there's no separation between the two emotions. That said, Lana Del Rey does lean toward pleasure on Lust for Life, luxuriating in her slow rhythms and shimmering surfaces. What once seemed icy -- the glassy gloss, the sighing melodies, her persistent murmur -- now exudes warmth, where even the Weeknd's spectral falsetto on the title track feels alluring.