Paradise (mini album)

A week after the release of the album Born to Die , Del Rey announced that she had bought the rights to her first studio album Lana Del Ray and was going to reissue it, releasing it in June of that year ^[6] .

On June 15, 2012, in an interview with RTVE , Del Rey stated that she was working on new material, planning to release it in November, also adding that five tracks for the album were ready ^[7] , including “ Young and Beautiful ” and “ Gods & Monsters” " ^[7] . On June 24, Del Rey performed at Radio 1's Big Weekend , performing the song " Body Electric ", which also appeared on the mini-album ^[8] . In an interview with Tim Blackwell for Nova FM in Melbourne , Del Rey added that her November release would not look like a full-fledged studio album, but rather a mini-album, which she described as “a heavenly edition of Born to Die ” ^[9] . Also, the performer added that the record will contain about seven new songs ^[9] .

Recording of the mini-album began shortly after the release of the album Born to Die . On the record, Del Rey has worked with producers such as DK, Emil Haney , Dan Heath, Tim Larkombe, Rick Knowles and Rick Rubin . The album was recorded at some studios in Los Angeles County , or in London , including Shangri-La ( Malibu , California), The Green Building (Santa Monica, California), Sarm Studios (London, UK ), Westlake Studios ( Hollywood ) and The Square Recording Studio (London, UK) ^[10] . The mastering of the album was led by John Davis at the Metropolis Studio in London ^[10] . The cover artwork was presented by Del Rey on his Twitter account at the end of September 2012, two months before the album was released ^[11] . Photos for the cover and booklet of the album were prepared by photographer Nicole Nodland, who had already collaborated with the performer. The cover photo was taken at the beginning of 2012, during the filming of the music video for the song “ Blue Jeans ” ^[12] .

In the UK , Paradise was released on November 12, 2012, and in the United States a day later ^[13] . The re-release of the artist’s second album, titled Born to Die: The Paradise Edition, was available for pre-order at the same time as Paradise , and in some countries included the bonus track “ Burning Desire ”. Nine tracks were released on a separate CD or record called Paradise ^[14] . A box set was also released containing two discs such as Born to Die and Paradise ; the third set with remixes of the tracks of the second Del Rey album, a DVD with some video clips of the performer and a record with the song “ Blue Velvet ” also entered the box set ^[15] . Two remixes of the composition were included on a special version of Paradise from Target ^[16] .

On September 13, 2012, it was confirmed that the music video for the first single “Ride” in support of the mini-album was filmed in Las Vegas , Nevada. ^[17] The single itself was released on September 25 for digital download ^[18] . The music video was presented on October 10 at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica , California ^[19] . On October 12, the video became available for viewing on YouTube ^[20] . According to the plot of the video, Del Rey plays a prostitute ^[21] , whose behavior in the NME is described as “not quite life-affirming”, also adding that the heroine of the singer can be considered as an “anti-feminist” ^[22] . To further promote both the single and the album, a collection of remixes on “Ride” was released, which included 6 remixed recordings from musicians such as Sohn , MJ Cole , Eli Escobar, 14TH remix, Wes James and James Lavelle ^[23] .

The music video for the next single “ Blue Velvet ” in support of the album was released on September 19 as a promotional video for H&M ^[24] . On September 20, 2012, the song “Blue Velvet” became available for digital download as the first promotion with Paradise ^[25] . ITunes users who pre-ordered the mini-album received a “ Burning Desire ” song as a bonus bonus track. On February 14, 2013, a music video for the song was released. For digital download, the song became available on March 19, 2013, becoming the final single released in support of the album.

The third single, Paradise and the eighth single, Born to Die, was the song " Cola ", released on November 14, 2012. Now, however, the release date has not become real, since in the description of the announcement “Cola” was signed as “Pussy”, which led to speculation that its name was changed or that it was an alternative name. Despite the rumors, it was announced that Cola had no alternative names. An official pre-order on iTunes did not confirm the availability of an alternative title. The profane text of the song received different descriptions - from "Freshly" to "Is she serious?" The Hindustan Times criticized part of the song, pointing out that this is direct evidence of the author’s creative crisis and that all the songs, in a strange way, sound similar. When Del Rey was asked what inspired her to the text, she said: “My boyfriend is a Scot, and that’s just what he says.” Defending the song, she said that the label doubted its release.

In the song “ Body Electric ” the line “Whitman is my daddy” refers to the famous American poet Walt Whitman . The chorus of the song “I sing the body electric” contains a direct link to Whitman’s poem I Sing the Body Electric . Del Rey previously cited Whitman's work as inspiration, recalling his poetic collection Leaves of Grass as an important part of her songwriting. The track’s list also included the song “ Yayo ”, re-recorded three times, also included in the Del Rey mini-album Kill Kill and her debut album Lana Del Ray . The music video for the closing album “ Bel Air ” was released on November 8, 2012 and was created from frames shot for the video for the song “ Summertime Sadness ”. In the video, Del Rey sings: “Roses, Bel Air: take me there / I'm waiting for you to meet / At night in the light of the lights I can see palm trees / Darling, I will gladly meet you / Come to me, baby.” The publication Rolling Stone appreciated the changes in the person of Del Rey, noting significant differences from his usual style of American lounge singer, first lady Jacqueline Kennedy and the alter ego of the biker.

On the day the song “ Ride ” was released as the lead single in support of Paradise , Del Rey published a teaser on YouTube that contained excerpts from the album. In support of the album, songs were also released as singles, including a cover version of the song “ Blue Velvet ” and the track “ Burning Desire ”, written by the performer herself. The song “Blue Velvet” was used in television commercials for the Del Rey women's clothing collection in collaboration with H&M . The third single from the album, “Burning Desire,” was used in a commercial for the Jaguar F-Type . Unlike the release in the USA, where the disc was released as a mini-album, in the UK it was released in the re-release of Born to Die . The song served as the soundtrack for Ridley Scott's film Desire. The “Burning Desire” promo video appeared online on Valentine's Day 2013, in which frames from Del Rey were replaced by inserts from the Jaguar F-Type. The clip was directed by Ridley Scott and filmed at the Rivoli Ballroom in the south of London. November 30, 2012, Del Rey became the musical guest of the British television show "Later ... with Jules Holland" , broadcast by BBC , performing the song "Ride."

Movie

In addition to Paradise , Del Rey planned to release the short film “ Tropico, ” which featured some of the songs from the mini-album, such as “ Body Electric ”, “ Gods & Monsters ” and “ Bel Air ”. Filming took place at the end of June 2013 in California; The director was Anthony Mandler , who previously worked on Del Rey’s music videos for National Anthem and Ride . Using social networks, the performer published several movie posters, one of which depicts Del Rey, reminiscent of the Virgin Mary , and on the other, the singer holds a snake in her hands, resembling Eve , the wife of Adam from Genesis . In August 2013, the singer announced that the film will have two premieres, one at the Hollywood Forever cemetery in Los Angeles and the other at an unknown location in New York. Del Rey referred to the film as parting. Critics noted that such a statement contradicts the news that the singer is recording her third studio album, and in the summer of 2013 a demo version of the song “ Black Beauty ” appeared on the network. An official trailer was released on November 22, 2013, at the end of which it was announced that the film would be uploaded to YouTube on December 5, 2013. On December 3, Del Rey announced that the premiere of the film will take place the next day at the Cinemarama cinema , Hollywood, California before the movie is uploaded to Vevo .

Paradise's mini album has been praised by critics. On the Metacritic aggregator , the album received 64 points out of a hundred possible based on nine reviews. Gil Kaufman from MTV believes that “The songs on the re-release are as soft and lethargic as on the debut album.”

Rewards

In 2014, Del Rey was first nominated for an American Grammy Music Award with Paradise mini-album in the category of Best Vocal Pop Album ^[5] .

Data taken from Paradise Album Booklet ^[35]

Information adapted from Paradise booklet ^[35] .

Vocals

• Lana Del Rey - vocals (all tracks) , backing vocals (track 7) , author, composer

Instruments

• James Gadson - drums (track 1)
• Emil Haney - drums (tracks 2, 7) ; optional synthesizer (track 7)
• Dan Heath - percussion (track 4) ; horn (track 6) ; synthesizer (track 7) ; strings (tracks 7, 8) ; piano (track 8)
• Davrim Karaoglu - drums (track 3)
• Jason Leider - bass guitar (track 1)
• Tim Larkombe - keyboards , guitar , drums (track 5)
• Larry Gold - Strings (Track 5)
• Song Leah - violin (tracks 1, 8)
• Kieron Manzies - Drum Machine (Track 3)
• Rick Knows - synthesizer (tracks 2, 3) ; bass guitar, acoustic guitar , drums (track 3) ; piano , mellotron , strings (track 4)
• Tim Pearce - electric guitar (track 2) ; slide guitar (tracks 3, 4)
• Zach Rae - piano, synthesizer (track 1)
• Kathleen Sloan - violin (tracks 1, 8)
• Patrick Warren - electric guitar, synthesizer, piano (tracks 2, 3, 4) ; strings, bells , wind instruments (track 3) ; organ (tracks 3, 4) ; bells, mellotron (track 4)

Additional staff

Weekly Charts

Annual Charts

Data was taken from some sites, including Discogs ^[45] .