- Dan DeLuca, Inquirer music critic
Spring Arts - Pop Music:
Lana Del Rey, Born to Die (on sale Jan. 31). Does Lana Del Rey have just one great song in her? The debut album by the artist who used to call herself Lizzy Grant will answer the question. With her woozy, narcotic, addictive "Video Games," the singer jacked up expectations, but a lifeless performance on Saturday Night Live has harshed her buzz considerably.
Leonard Cohen, Old Ideas (on sale Jan. 31). "I'd love to speak with Leonard, he's a sportsman and a shepherd / He's a lazy bastard living in a suit," 77-year-old Leonard Cohen sings of his own persona in "Going Home," on his first studio album in eight years. If it's half as good as he was at the Academy of Music in 2009, it'll be brilliant.
Dr. Dog, Be the Void (on sale Feb. 7; plays the Electric Factory March 24-25). The second album on the Anti- label by the Philadelphia sextet led by Scott McMicken and Toby Leaman doesn't sacrifice catchiness in the slightest as it rocks out and adds touches of paranoid psychedelia to the band's repertoire.
Sharon Van Etten, Tramp (on sale Feb. 7; plays sold-out show at Johnny Brenda's on Feb. 10). Brooklyn songwriter Sharon Van Etten kick-started her career in 2010 with her haunting song "Love More," recorded at a session with Fishtown's Weathervane Music. Her third album backs up her luxurious voice most effectively without losing the intimacy that can bring a listener up short.
Van Halen, A Different Kind of Truth (on sale Feb. 7; plays the Wells Fargo Center on March 5; plays Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on March 24). Anyone who saw the 2007 Van Halen tour in which genius of camp David Lee Roth came back into the fold knows that these '80s rockers can still be ridiculous entertaining. But are they capable of making worthwhile new music? Early signs are inconclusive.
