Lana Del Rey Reaches “Paradise”: Hear The Frenetic Track

The tracks we’ve heard so far off Lana Del Rey‘s Born to Die: The Paradise Edition (out November 12) have found the singer fiddling with her often inconsistent formula. By eschewing some of her more irksome habits (the baby-talk, the orchestra-as-security-blanket) on “Blue Velvet” and “Ride,” the singer has delivered a streamlined version of her glamorously brooding, sultry pop. These two samples had us very excited for the rest of the new stuff.

And then, the perplexing “Paradise” came along, and while it isn’t on the re-release, we just don’t know how to feel. This cut takes the opposite approach, throwing every Lana trope into the mix, good and bad. The result is equal parts chaotic, exciting and annoying. Hear it after the jump.

“Paradise” starts off on the wrong foot and the cringing begins immediately, as Lana pulls out the trusty ol’ drugged-out baby coo and faux-bro lyrics (“Ooooh / What? / Ooooh / That’s dope”). But once that unfortunate appetizer has been tossed aside, the arrangement shows itself to be quite an interesting departure for LDR. An aquatic beat marked off with hand claps percolates as Lana spouts her usual lines like “Boy you’re sweet like sugar cane” or “I’m goin’ down, down, take you down to paradise.”

But then, just as we’re settling into the jostling song’s groove, Lana murmurs “How do you like that, baby?” and an “eh, eh” rap chant begins, as well as a second course of “Dope / That’s sick” stew.

The whole thing should be more of a mess than it is. We’re inclined to believe that save for the moments featuring her zonked Lindsay Lohan impression, Lana somehow pulled this song off. At the very least, it’s one of the few LDR songs that could actually be described as fun.

What do you think of Lana’s latest song? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, or by sounding off on Facebook and Twitter!