Lana Del Rey - High By The Beach

For a song apparently based around rolling across sand under the influence of narcotics, ‘High By The Beach’ is deceptive. Really, Lana Del Rey’s singing about saying “bye, bye, bye,” instead, and her coy, saccharine delivery lends itself to one of the best deliveries of “bullshit” this year. The production is unapologetic, shaking at the foundations. The chorus is oddly paced, half a leg behind like it’s just quaffed a glass of white wine and a sedative. Assertion also pumps through ‘High By The Beach’s veins.

Tucked away in the bridge, “lights, camera, acción” serves as a subtle, but key lyrical throwback to Del Rey’s first album, ‘Lana Del Ray a.k.a. Lizzy Grant’. ‘Put Me in a Movie’ - the particular song she’s referencing - plays an insecure character who desperately wants to play yet another character in a movie. It’s a pile of confused masks, albeit an intriguing one. Nowadays, Lana Del Rey - and the very idea of who Lana Del Rey is - has shifted towards something far more singular.

“Lana Del Rey reminded us of the glamour of the seaside,” she once said, speaking about the choice of moniker. Sacking off no good men, money-slinging bullshitters, and empty tributes in favour of beachy hedonism on ‘High By The Beach,’ this song is really a song about reveling in the escape of being yourself.