Lana Del Rey's aural history with men has spanned from blue-jean-wearing James Deans, video-game players, Cognac sippers, million-dollar fellas to dudes who cause bouts of summertime sadness. Gangsters should be added to the mix, too, if you caught her mini film Tropico last December. So, yes, Del Rey's lamented more than a few times over various daddies, babies, [insert pet name here] kind of guys, but never has she taken a more outsider perspective than she does on the new track "Shades Of Cool" off her upcoming Ultraviolence album.
Unlike Ultraviolence's first single "West Coast," "Shades Of Cool" takes the mellow road often traveled by Del Rey. She reunited with Rick Nowels of "Summertime Sadness" for the track, and it pays off in spades. Her sad-sack tale of loving a man who "lives for love, loves his drugs, and his baby, too" climaxes in a guitar-laced finale. She's taken the outsider's perspective, knowing full well that she's just one of many women this man has, but comes off all the wiser for it. Perhaps this marks a turn in her storytelling; instead of wallowing in her own life, she's beginning to consider those outside forces. Though none of that will be known for sure until the album comes out June 13. (MTV)