Lana Del Rey’s “Black Beauty” Demo Leaks: Hear The Hotly Anticipated New Track

It’s bad news for Lana Del Rey, but good news for fans of the chanteuse: A demo of her new song “Black Beauty” has leaked, and it’s spare and gorgeous — a fitting introduction to her sophomore LP era.

The track was the first that Del Rey mentioned in an interview about her upcoming album back in February, when she described her evolving sound as belonging to a “more spiritual place lyrically” and “a little more stripped down but still cinematic and dark.” That’s an excellent way to describe “Black Beauty,” which is atmospheric in the way “Ride” was, high choral voices on the chorus and twangs in the background.

There’s an simplicity, too, to the lyrics that feels more sophisticated than the imagery of the Born To Die era, which operated out of a noirish literalism: “Oh, what can I do / Life is beautiful, but you don’t have a clue,” she sings on the chorus. It’s less Americana, more ethereal. It’s a sound that works.

But while there’s a constant stream of early demos (of variable quality) leaking out of Camp Lana, it’s rare for one of her album tracks to find its way online this prematurely, which has fans in an uproar over the leak. Cross your fingers that nothing else leaks before it’s ready — and that the final mix comes sooner rather than later.

Listen below.

Lana Del Rey — “Black Beauty”