Lana Del Rey doesn’t seem to handle the fame well. After her album, Born To Die she was ridiculed and ripped to shreds by critics after her initial rise to stardom. Now, her obsession with death was revealed in a recent interview with The Guardian. She has since tried to defend herself by saying the journalist twisted her shocking words, “I wish I was dead already” but The Guardian’s recording proves loud and clear that no one made her say it.

But despite that, the singer remains a mystery. She tells stories of being homeless, being the other woman and living with a group of bikers. She was thrust into the spotlight after her she uploaded a video release of Video Games although she had made many more before. Now, she releases her second album since her break out that has been slowed down and spits out more romantic poetry that she seems to love.

“Get a little bit of Bourbon in ya. Go a little bit suburban and go crazy.”

The album is heavily influenced by The Door’s lead singer, Jim Morrison and it is abruptly clear from the first track, Cruel World. A 60s psychedelic sway that captured her ideal of the Morrison life. Heroin, whiskey and women.

Her voice seems beautifully depressing in Shades of Cool with a hint of Disney princess cooing. It’s mesmerizing, the way her voice can dip from downtown New Yorker to angelic Upper East Side baby which could easily be mistaken for two separate women singing.

The only song to touch on her urban roots is West Coast. A cool breeze of a song that’s not without her sad sonnet. Sad Girl is reminiscent of Jessica Rabbit’s rendition of Why Don’t you Do right? Money, being the other woman and bad girl attitude are all themes that Lana likes to play with. Domestic violence seems to play a part in haunting tracks, Ultraviolence and Pretty When You Cry. Something that Lana Del Rey claims have been part of her previous life as an alcoholic. It seems hard to imagine that this girl has been through so much at such a young age. But it makes her songs all the more intriguing.

“Heavy Metal Lover Of Mine. I should’ve learned to let you stay.”

With a nod to another artist, Guns and Roses is a nod to the 80s band with the same name. Though repeatedly singing their name doesn’t make the song any more meaningful and she seems to get a bit carried away with the repetitiveness. Luckily it’s only a bonus track.

Slow electric guitar plucks and Lana’s haunting voice seem to come from another time and it’s a wonder how her music survives in this drought of hip hop and boy bands. The character that she’s created of a troubled bad girl seems to make her the most mysterious and watchable singer there is right now. Lana, Lizzy, Elizabeth… whoever you are, keep making music.