A LETTERED SOUL: REFLECTIONS ON LITERATURE, CINEMA AND CULTURE .

LANA COOS AGAIN, MISS LORETTA IS STILL WOMAN ENOUGH .

Why do I keep writing about such musical bounties when half of my generation continues to break Covid protocols, indulge in rowdy acts of defiance without a cause and share no regard for the state of the world?

Well, I do that because there are still enough of us who can stand tall with our choices and celebrate the diverse positivity of our world through words and songs.

It sounds like a hollow statement, the kind I hate to peddle at this point in our civilization but still I believe in the restorative power of music.

So I share with you the same bounty, to help you be inspired, empowered , just be calm or in enough effusive spirits to steady the river in spate.

Here are some of the best from recent months.

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CHEMTRAILS OVER THE COUNTRY CLUB by LANA DEL REY

LET ME LOVE YOU LIKE A WOMAN and the title cut made things clear: this was going to be a snapshot of all that the chanteuse has perfected over a decade of transforming the cultural and aural landscape, since breaking out with 2011's smash hit BORN TO DIE. Post 2019's definitive NORMAN ROCKWELL, an album cycle that we will be referring to for its sheer bounty of melody, not to forget her preceding evolutionary roll of honour ( ULTRAVIOLENCE, HONEYMOON, LUST FOR LIFE), we have come to embrace her sanguine, sage fealty to her sophisticated craft.

CHEMTRAILS OVER THE COUNTRY CLUB is blissfully aware of her gifts as a vocalist and  lyricist, keeping her classic sound close to her serene outlook on life. It's a progression on her part that we definitely need to adhere to, here in 2021.

Cooing that soundscape of bliss, she achieves a freewheeling freedom, a storytelling focus on WHITE DRESS that becomes more appealing with every listen.  With her cover of Joni Mitchell's paean to artistic integrity tinged with the tragedy of neglect, namely FOR FREE, a song that I have loved over time, she skews closer to her own proclivity for vintage classics, templates and influences that have shaped her incredible journey till date. With Zella Day and Weyes Blood in tow, she does it justice. I'm happy this cover makes it to the tracklist as its backstage rendition by the three artists together two years back, in between or preceding tour performances, had already won hearts. But one must go back to the original Joni standard to absorb its empathy.