Lana Del Rey’s First Album: Listen To Songs She Recorded As May Jailer

Becky Bain | May 31, 2012 10:48 am

We all know before Lana Del Rey was Lana Del Rey, she was Lizzy Grant. Even though Lizzy Grant is the “Video Games” singer’s birth name, she had a nom de plume that predates her Lizzy music (which will be re-released this year). As it turns out, Del Rey recorded an alt-folk album, Sirens, under the name May Jailer, and the album has found its way online. The songs are all acoustic, subtle tunes (think Jewel‘s first album Pieces Of You), with no hip-hop, electronic or experimental elements that make up Born To Die. Hear a few songs from the lost LP below.

Though her vocals are often weak and shaky, her tone sounds delicate and sweet on all these simple tracks, and she sounds more confident here as May Jailer than she often does as Lana Del Rey. It’s also refreshing to hear Lana/Lizzy/May perform songs written in her range, so she doesn’t have to sing (and sing-talk) in her head voice and resort to that cutesy, flirty baby coo so prominent throughout Born To Die (which still impressed us enough to make our list of the 12 Best Albums of 2012… So Far).

Lana Del Rey as May Jailer – “Birds Of A Feather”

Lana Del Rey as May Jailer – “For K”

Lana Del Rey as May Jailer – “Bad Disease”

Lana Del Rey as May Jailer – “My Momma”

There’s a ton more here – check it out before they all get taken down.

[Via Stereogum]

Tags: