Ride

The most talked-about woman in music has wasted no time in repackaging her phenomenally successful debut album Born To Die for reissue, a record which, lest we forget, was only released in January. In fairness, Ms. Del Rey has clearly been busy. Born To Die: The Paradise Edition features nine new tracks, including a cover of ‘60s chestnut ‘Blue Velvet’ and the mightily brooding ‘Ride’, which, despite what the title might suggest, is far from the crudest thing on the record – she’ll later tell us, ‘My pussy tastes like Pepsi-Cola’. But back to ‘Ride’, a song that surprises for all the right reasons. A heavenly slow-burner supported by oodles of theatrical strings, it finds our doe-eyed trash queen in her best vocal form yet, finally emoting like the seasoned torch singers she’s long yearned to emulate.