Lana Del Rey’s Honeymoon still brings crystal-clear images of a white-hot and melodramatic summer 10 years later.
Released in the early days of September 2015, Honeymoon encapsulates the highs and lows of a romance-filled summer. The 14 sultry odes on the album range from pleads of desperation for a lover to return to depictions of an engulfing romance.
With Honeymoon, Lana Del Rey, known off-stage as Elizabeth Grant, followed her widely successful debut Born to Die alongside its sister EP Paradise, as well as her dark sophomore work Ultraviolence.
Although Honeymoon remains wholly original in Grant’s discography, some of its tracks take influence from the records that preceded it. This is likely because some of Honeymoon’s tracks were envisioned during the creation of Ultraviolence. Tracks like “Freak” and “Art Deco” could have easily appeared on Born to Die, mirroring the sizzling party anthems found on Grant’s debut. Similarly, “Religion” and “The Blackest Day” would thematically fit on Ultraviolence, sharing discussions of blind obsession backlit by a distinctly dark sound.
Despite some thematic mirroring with her earlier releases, on a sonic level, Honeymoon brings an entirely individualized sound to Grant’s discography.
In an interview with BBC Radio 1, Grant said that her love for the word “Honeymoon” inspired the album’s title, saying it’s “probably the most romantic word.”
Grant expanded on Honeymoon’s thematic sound in the interview, saying that the album’s production began with Grant “knowing exactly what [she] was doing” before it progressed into something she didn’t expect. Grant cited the album’s atmospheric “touch of psychedelia” and loud production as unplanned, despite their core influences on the album’s recognizable sound today.
The album unmistakably takes place in the depths of summer. The fourth track, “God Knows I Tried,” opens with a sizzling noise that replicates the sound of cicadas buzzing on a hot summer night. On “Freak,” Grant plays to her summery setting when comparing the deep summer heat to the way she feels for her lover, expressing that her “hot love’s full of fire.”
Honeymoon creates an atmosphere of melodrama right from the opening title track “Honeymoon.” The record opens with high pitched violins that fade and rise in intensity before silencing when Grant’s vocals begin.
The album shifts between depictions of almost reckless feelings of freedom juxtaposed with the desperation that arises in a complicated relationship. On the title track, Grant sings softly about a world where it is just herself and her partner, musing that they could “cruise to the blues” or do “whatever you want to do,” framing her world around their connection.
Grant’s thematic concern with an almost obsessive romantic connection continues in tracks like “Salvatore,” “Swan Song” and “Religion,” where she declares that her faith to her lover is like a religion.
However, Honeymoon also explores the flipside of a romance that fully engulfs you, with tracks like “The Blackest Day” depicting the emphasized pain that comes when her lover abandons her. In this track, Grant sings that “looking for love / in all the wrong places” led her to being “on [her] own again.”
Honeymoon is equally melancholic and deeply introspective, with thought-provoking lyrics interrupting the melodrama of several tracks. For example, at the end of the title track “Honeymoon,” after depicting a world where the speaker’s life revolves around her lover, Grant repeatedly sings the lyrics “dreaming away your life” to end the song.
The album also has a spoken word interlude, where Grant philosophizes for a minute and a half. She asks if “time present and time past / are both perhaps present in time future” before continuing to muse about the concept of time.
The interlude finishes by relating her philosophical inquiries back to the main thematic focus of the album, with Grant saying that her and her lover’s “footfalls echo in the memory / down the passage which we did not take / towards the door we never opened into the rose garden.”
The album finishes with a cover of Nina Simone’s famous track “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” which is more than fitting for the experiences Grant explores on Honeymoon, asking her lover — and listeners themselves — not to judge her for being “just human” with “faults like anyone.”
Honeymoon is a vast exploration of human emotion, seeking to display that even downward spirals in love can be backlit by beautiful instrumentals and lush images. Despite a decade passing since its release, Honeymoon is as timeless as ever, returning annually to soundtrack sultry summer days.