The first thing that usually comes to mind when people hear the word “honeymoon” is typically something in the works of love and marriage. A honeymoon is traditional a vacation spent by two newlyweds to celebrate their marriage in intimacy and privacy.

However, a “Honeymoon” spent with Lana Del Rey is more of a sultry yet hypnotic journey.

With Honeymoon being Lana’s third major studio album, she is no amateur to the explorations of different beats and sounds. And that seems to be thoroughly expressed throughout this album, along with her past generally discussed adoration of Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor, and on this album she writes lyrics that refer to artist David Bowie, The Eagles, Chet Baker, and Billie Holiday. Del Rey’s lyrics, photos, and gestures add these pieces to her inspiration board. The new album brings her listeners into a hypnotic world of toxic romance and outright pure bitterness, lust and violence.

Honeymoon does not stray too far from any of Lana’s preceding albums, yet indicating signs of evolution in both sound and substance. The dreamy sounds of ‘Music to Watch Boys To’ and the seductive pull of ‘God Knows I’ve Tried’ are slow and delicate in their range, yet inviting to the listener into a soothing, intimate performance.

Del Ray’s strong falsetto manages to depict an imagery of a bar scene in the 50s to each and every one of its listeners. ‘Terrence Loves You’ provides any listener into her most emotional performance on the album. As she expresses her sorrow by singing “I lost myself when I lost you.” It can be seen as a very haunting verse on the album, leaving a trail of goosebumps on any arm.

AIC Freshman Ciana Belton said she recently brought the album and has expressed her views on this specific song.

“I love its jazzy tones. It has a great blues, yet pop like vibe to it. It’s very relatable, I love it,” Belton said.

Del Rey shows more unique side, by inviting us to join her as a ‘Freak’, very much like she describes herself in that very song. While, with ‘Religion’ she crumbles her barricade of contingency as she reaches out to more of an unrecognizable scenery of enchantment.

Del Ray continues her hypnotic trail along with splatters of a “gloomy-pop” sound later into the album’s track listing. This is seen through Del Rey’s alluring harmonizing on ‘The Blackest Day‘, whilst portraying her lover’s adieu. However, towards the end of the album it seems like with songs ‘Salvatore’ and ‘Don’t be Misunderstood’ her patterns and sound seem to be overused and dragging.

Another AIC freshman, Justin Lipscomb, was in agreement with this observation.

“I’m not much of a fan of ‘Salvatore’ and ‘Don’t be Misunderstood,” Lipscomb said. “It sounds too repetitive and all too much the same. The record its self has a very different tone to it as opposed to last year’s album Ultraviolence. I feel as if the transition from last year’s album being dark to this year’s album being more about love is a huge and exciting turn for Lana as an artist. But, I just don’t feel like ‘Salvatore’ and ‘Don’t be Misunderstood’ stuck out to me.”

Overall, this is one of Del Rey’s most successful records. She reaches all new horizons as she mixes up her sound by incorporating hip-pop and pop sound. Lana also opens up herself more to her audience and takes a chance with exploring new sides to herself both emotionally and romantically. There’s no wonder why Lana Del Rey remains fresh in the minds of many.