Paradise
| Lana Del Rey
Paradise
Paradise is the third extended play and second major release by American singer and songwriter Lana Del Rey; it was released on November 9, 2012 by Universal Music. It was additionally packaged with the reissue of her second studio album, Born to Die (2012), titled Born to Die: The Paradise Edition. Del Rey enlisted collaborators including producers Rick Nowels, Justin Parker and Rick Rubin. The EP's sound has been described as baroque pop and trip hop. Upon its release, Paradise received generally favorable reviews from music critics. The extended play debuted at No. 10 on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 67,000 copies. It also debuted at No. 10 on the Canadian Albums Chart and peaked within the top five of various other Billboard charts. Charting across Europe, the EP became a top 10 hit in Flanders and Poland, charting within the top 20 in Wallonia and the Netherlands. The EP's lead single was the ballad "Ride", which became a modest hit in the United States, Switzerland, Ireland and France and reached the top 10 in Russia. "Blue Velvet" (a cover of the popular 1950s track) and "Burning Desire" were released as promotional singles. Music videos for "Ride", "Blue Velvet", "Bel Air" and "Burning Desire" were posted to Vevo and YouTube to help promote the EP.-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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AllMusic
Strings move at a glacial pace, drums crash like waves in slow motion, and most of the additional textures in these songs (usually electric guitar or piano) are cinematic in their sound and references. Del Rey is in perfect control of her voice, much more assured than she was even one year ago, and frequently capable of astonishing her listeners with a very convincing act
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Drowned in Sound
The tortured, neurotic beauty of a Tennessee Williams play. And as such, the new tracks work to complement the character, fully exposing the dark underbelly of the music. It’s like the reality after the reel spins to a cease. If Born to Die was the script-defined character, then Paradise shows the darker routes through reality once the director yells “cut”.
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Rolling Stones
There is something that is definitely underlying in the perfect pop played behind an occasional deadpan and often faked vocal delivery.
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Slant Magazine
Lana Del Rey’s new EP, Paradise, serves as a closing bookend on a year that was kicked off by the singer’s previous EP, which had a paired but opposite function. Lana Del Rey served as an introduction to the sleepy-voiced singer, assembling some of the strongest songs from Born to Die. Paradise is longer, but less essential, more a summary of her persona than an attempt at developing it.
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Sputnikmusic
Impressively, coming only 10 months after her album, this doesn't feel rushed.
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Tiny Mix Tapes
Eleven months later: a year populated with evasive identities (Dean Blunt/Inga Copeland) and split personalities (Dominick Fernow) and aural plastic surgeries (vaporwave). A year that drains questions regarding authenticity — of the biography, the body, the song, the voice — of all their apparent critical content. A year that lets the critics wrestle around in the puddle.
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American Songwriter
Here, our femme fatale sings, swoons, and slurs her way through eight new songs that blur the lines between baby talk and dirty talk, between 1950s torch ballads and 21st century pop, between lyrics that belong in a softcore porno and string arrangements stolen from a film noire soundtrack.
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