Lana Del Rey sings in a voice of savored doom. Her nearly comatose vocals make it sound like she just slipped herself a date-rape drug, saving whatever sicko she seeks the trouble.
She extends the perversity to her lyrics, which never miss a beautiful loser cliché.
It's standard-issue Del Rey, a woman whose shrewdly-honed, broken baby doll persona helped her hawk over a million copies of her last album, "Born To Die." The Hollywood hard-sell of that character made her a toast of the trendy clueless. To wit: "Kimye" invited her sing at their wedding.
Auerbach does not, however, lift the last album's blinding fog of echo. He can't. They serve to camouflage Del Rey's singing and to simulate her chosen mood of mystery - but there's a consequence. His production makes it sound like someone sneezed into the mix, blowing green ooze and unmentionable chunks.
Ultimately, she's milking classic male fantasies of the sad Marilyn Monroe, the babe in distress who can only be saved by you - and your dollars.
R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay
1 1 22 Loyal - Chris Brown Feat. Lil Wayne & Tyga - RCA
2 2 20 The Worst - Jhene Aiko - ARTclub/ARTium | Def Jam 3 4 15 Move That Doh - Future Featuring Pharrell, Pusha T & Casino - A-1/Freebandz | Epic
4 3 22 Partition - Beyonce - Parkwood | Columbia
5 6 15 Cut Her Off - KCamp Featuring 2 Chainz - Dat Real/FTE/4.27 | Interscope
6 8 14 Trophies - Young Money Featuring Drake - Young Money/Cash Money | Republic 7 9 5 Good Kisser - Usher - RCA
8 7 20 Happy - Pharrell Williams - Back Lot | Columbia
9 5 22 Part II (On The Run) - Jay Z Featuring Beyonce - Roc-A-Fella | Roc Nation
10 10 30 Show Me - Kid Ink Featuring Chris Brown - Tha Alumni Group/88 Classic | RCA
11 11 39 All Of Me - John Legend - G.O.O.D. | Columbia 12 13 11 2 On - Tinashe Featuring ScHoolboy Q - RCA
13 14 5 Believe Me - Lil Wayne Featuring Drake - Young Money/Cash Money | Republic
14 12 6 Love Never Felt So Good - Michael Jackson & Justin Timberlake - MJJ | Epic
15 18 8 We Dem Boyz - Wiz Khalifa - Rostrum | Atlantic
16 16 12 I Know - Yo Gotti Featuring Rich Homie Quan - Cocaine Muzik | Epic
17 15 21 Na Na - Trey Songz - Songbook | Atlantic
18 20 10 She Twerkin - Ca$h Out - Bases Loaded | eOne
19 28 3 Fancy - Iggy Azalea Featuring Charli XCX - Turn First/Hustle Gang | Def Jam
20 19 26 Drunk In Love - Beyonce Featuring Jay Z - Parkwood | Columbia
Am here for those snatching Top 3; but as usual, Urban's basic ass will let "Believe Me" go #1 due to the artists alone.
