Damon Albarn is giving Lana Del Rey new life with a remix of the single “Born to Die.”
The Blur/Gorillaz frontman transformed Del Rey’s cinematic ballad into a pulsating six and a half minute brand new tune. Albarn’s take on the pseudonymous singer’s song can be found with Clams Casino’s and Woodkid’s versions on the “Born to Die” single. These re-workings follow Lana Del Rey’s first live American TV performance on Saturday Night Live – a two song set which has generated quite a bit of critical attention.
Although the claws have certainly come out, from Brian Williams, Gawker and Hipster Runoff, LDR was recently booked to perform on The Late Show with David Letterman and then Ellen this February.
Before she was Lana Del Rey she was Lizzie Grant – working coffee shop gigs and singing at open mic nights in New York. It was not until the creation of her novel LDR persona that she was dubbed the ‘Gangster Nancy Sinatra’ or went viral. As Pop ‘stache’s own Christi Warren observes:
Ironically, with her pin-up gaze, pouty lips and siren screen name, Lana Del Rey is exactly what an industry so helplessly devoted to being ‘different’ has been waiting for – a walking contradiction.
Lana Del Rey’s career was born on the internet after all, so it begs the question – is all publicity, good publicity?
