It could use a bridge to add some contrast to the verses. I’m not a huge fan of the chorus and the whole song is a bit boring and uninteresting to me. “Arcadia” is one of my least favorite songs on this album. The themes in this song make it feel like a sequel to “Dance Til We Die” from Chemtrails over the Country Club. I also enjoyed the piano added to this song. I liked how she used the color of the banisters and the people who painted them to indirectly show how her relationship with this man was progressing. She sings about her friends’ support when the man she was with broke up with her, signaled by him not coming back to paint her banisters blue. The song “Blue Banisters” felt like Del Rey was taking me through a story. At first, I wasn’t sure if I liked this song because I am not a huge fan of the verses, but I find the chorus very catchy, which saved this song for me. Del Rey reflects on her childhood relationship with her parents and how it has influenced her love life: she is looking for a man like her father. The title “Text Book” reflects the idea of a classic love story. The background music becomes upbeat in the chorus and dwindles again during the verse. It starts with minimal background music and focuses on Del Rey’s vocals. “Text Book” is the opening song for this album. Del Rey continues to keep the folk and jazz feel on this album, similar to her last album. This album takes a very autobiographical route, including details about her life over the pandemic, failed romance, family relationships, and friendships. I think she could push herself more in future albums. We get hints of each of these aspects, but then Del Rey seems to shy away from them.
This includes more collaborations, key changes, different instrumentation, or more powerhouse vocals. Overall, I enjoyed this album, but I think Del Rey could have branched out more in some areas of experimentation. Despite the lack of promotion and time between albums, Blue Banisters sounds cohesive and polished, possibly from the help of a number of unreleased songs that were revised and added to the album. Unlike her past albums, this album did not have as much promotion, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from this seemingly rushed album. This is Del Rey’s eighth studio album, released on October 22, 2021, and her second album released this year, coming out only seven months after Chemtrails over the Country Club.
In Blue Banisters, Lana Del Rey’s latest album, she experiments with different music styles and themes, making it more impressive than her previous album.