Lana Del Rey
Lana Del Rey
Credit Neil Krug
Lana Del Rey: The Crying Game
Lana Del Rey is living a sped-up version of pop stardom, with so much heartbreak, triumph, backlash and redemption packed into the last five years that she’s already graduated to the category of survivor, and she’s not even 30.
There’s been a lot to survive for this omnivorous pop singer and Web-ready phenomenon: her biography being picked apart and her public persona shredded by tastemakers who sensed inauthenticity and pounced; her tendency to troll, whether she’s singing or talking to interviewers; and just the whole seething, volatile mass of fame and attention.
At some point during all the drama, everyone looked up and there was a fully formed artist and singer-songwriter with multiple albums to her credit. The reference-dropping whisperer of 2011’s “Video Games” is now also the the operatic swooner of 2013’s “Young and Beautiful” and the torchy, trip-hop crooner of 2014’s “West Coast.”
As a live performer, Del Rey has gone from a career-threatening moment on Saturday Night Live in 2012 to accolades as one of the standouts at Coachella in 2014. The spring-summer 2015 tour in support of her latest album, “Ultraviolence,” is an honest-to-goodness event.
Del Rey might owe some of her current success to forces beyond her control: After the Internet nearly buried her under a hail of gotchas and collective scorn, the backlash against the backlash buoyed her.
But she was shrewd and persistent enough to roll with both, and make creative use of the tempest surrounding her. If she hasn’t taken every criticism or cheap shot in stride — “I wish I was dead already,” she told an interviewer last June — she hasn’t run from or wilted under the scrutiny, either.
Based on songs like “Fucked My Way Up to the Top” it’s pretty clear that whatever bubble Del Rey might inhabit as an elite entertainer and self-contemplating artiste, she can see and hear through it just fine. And she’s definitely paying attention.
Lana Del Rey “Endless Summer Tour” with Grimes, Tuesday June 16, 7:30pm. Coral Sky Amphitheatre, South Florida Fairgrounds, 601-7 Sansbury’s Way, West Palm Beach, 561-795-8883. Tickets $19 – $250 at concerts.livenation.com.
~ Sean Piccoli
