It quickly became clear at London's Jazz Cafe that she isn't a one-hit-wonder - far from it, in fact
By
Dean Piper
So much has been made of Lana Del Rey since she hit the top spot with her debut album Born To Die.
She's this newborn 'megastar', she's the 'new Adele' and people quickly said she will eclipse many other acts out there in the charts.
The truth of the matter is it became quickly evident that this was not going to be the case. And I'm glad.
There was her much talked about performance on Saturday Night Live where she was widely lambasted for her off-key tones.
Was she anything more than a one-hit wonder, people were already saying.....after just one live performance. AFTER ONE LIVE PERFORMANCE. Since when did we write off acts this quickly?
Anyway, it quickly became clear she wasn't a one-hit-wonder - far from it, in fact.
The problem is we're welcoming new figures into the pop music arena with exactly the same approach each time and Lana is one new act that eclipses the usual mould.
For you to enjoy and appreciate an artist like Lana you actually need to see her like I did tonight at the Jazz Cafe in Camden for a HMV one-off gig in front of just a couple of hundred people.
The vocals were raw, just a piano, one guitarist and a quartet of string players accompanied her. You could sense the nerves in the air as she took to the mic.
Would she be able to cut it live? Would she perform the seven-song set with conviction and do justice to the album she worked so hard penning and recording?
The simple answer was YES.
Fine, Lana's not got the vocal explosion of Adele, Leona or Mariah....but she's got a darn sight more than most of the pop tarts out there.
I've come to the conclusion following the gig that you need to look at a beast like Lana with a different viewpoint. She's old school.
Think back to the days of early Hollywood sirens when stars like Marilyn Monroe ruled supreme. Miss Monroe didn't have the voice of an angel - she breathed her way through so much of her career.
What she did have in bucket loads was charisma and charm. And Lana is not dissimilar from the likes of Marilyn. She's mysterious, cagey and nervous.
Tonight she was like Jessica Rabbit on the stage. You couldn't take your eyes off her (and not because of a ****ty red sequin dress) and the room was completely captivated by her voice.
It's not powerful, she was surprisingly comfortable on the high notes and the crowd was pretty much silent throughout.
Certain parts made you tingle....she was fully in the zone wearing her Guns 'N Roses vest.
The last thing somebody like Lana needs is to be shoved on stage in American Idol or any of those big shows to perform. She needs to be treated differently to 'the pack'.
In all honesty, and in my opinion, the best thing she could possibly do for her British fans is perform at the Royal Albert Hall with a full orchestra and do things her way.
So I'll sum things up by saying this: tonight the penny dropped. Lana is a true talent, she has a voice to be appreciated and is somebody very exciting to watch perform.
Maybe we just need to try and remember that not all artists are going to work on such a grand scale for an arena full of thousands of punters.
Lana is in a league of her own - people just need to step back and find that sparkle. It sure does shine....[
Lana Del Rey isn't a conventional pop star so we really can't look at her the same way we look at Gaga, Britney, Nicki, Katy, Riri, Bey, etc. She's a lovely singer and her style is just very different. I think she's starting to grow from her past weird performances.
But really,he perfectly summed up this and every word is nothing but the truth,and I'm not saying this just because I'm fan.What a great article and way of thinking.
But really,he perfectly summed up this and every word is nothing but the truth,and I'm not saying this just because I'm fan.What a great article and way of thinking.