Ultraviolence - Lana Del Rey

What was instantly apparent from Del Rey's third full length album, and her second under her current moniker was how her sound had evolved from 2011's Born to Die. The album, whilst not a massive revolution or departure is certainly a progression. The sound is similarly dark and cinematic, but the sound is more subtle, and less starkly different from the rest of the current pop landscape.

Also evolved is Del Rey's songwriting, which has matured and developed and is now less cliched, stronger and more assured.

My opinions when I first heard 2011's Born to Die are quite different from my opinions now, at first I found it dull and bland, and it was only after listening to it for a few week that I became hooked. Ultraviolence is an entirely different animal, catchier and more gripping.

The opening tracks on the album include the title track, a harrowing melody which caused controversy upon its release last year for allegedly romanticizing domestic violence (I can't honestly see why anyone would expect anything less from a woman who described dying young as glamorous) and Shades of Cool, one of the album's highlights.

Ultraviolence is the of few albums which improve as they progress, there is often an unfortunate tendency to frontload albums with the best songs and then to fill up behind with filler, Ultraviolence thankfully doesn't go down this route, and Money Power Glory and Old Money are definite highlights from the second half of the album.

Ultraviolence is a highly solid sophomoric effort, and is an interesting maturation of Del Rey's sound, whilst she doesn't do anything particularly new with this album, it is an entirely polished LP, and shows Del Rey's talent both as a singer, and as a songwriter.