Lana Del Rey delivers successful sophomore album “Ultraviolence” 

Lana Del Rey delivers successful sophomore album “Ultraviolence”

Lana Del Rey appears at her most masterful and most complicated on her second album, “Ultraviolence.”

Del Rey managed to improve upon the wildly popular “Born To Die” and produce an even more complex, gut wrenching sophomore album with “Ultraviolence.”

She introduces listeners to a cast of broken women, femme fatales, victims, predators and even an aging socialite in this concept album.

A sense of doom penetrates each and every song. Though you never find out what happens to Del Rey’s cast of women, it’s clear none leave their experiences unscathed.

Themes seen in “Born To Die,” her first album, appear again in her sophomore album with an even darker, devastating tone. Del Rey evokes her favorite cultural era, the decadent, drug fueled 1960s, by exploring themes like eroticism, power, submission, glamour, faith, and the meaning of the American dream.

Her powerful tone is fueled by her even stronger lyricism. In the title song, she sings from the midst of an abusive relationship, “I can hear sirens, sirens. He hit me and it felt like a kiss. I can hear violins, violins. Give me all of that ultraviolence.”

Del Rey has abandoned the lyrical clutter of “Born To Die” and grown beyond the pop veneer that weighed down her freshman album.

An underlying pattern can be seen in the songs of “Ultraviolence.” Del Rey’s voice will appear alone, sing a verse and will then be joined by orchestral instruments and backup vocals.

Standout tracks on the album include “Ultraviolence,” “West Coast,” “Money Power Glory” and “Old Money.”

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