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Lana Del Rey’s Pre-‘Lizzie Grant’ Leaks Recall a More Innocent, Less Talented Time

Lana Del Rey Lizzie Grant Maha Maha catch release

The summer of 2013 continues to provide a glut of unreleased Lana Del Rey songs. First it was the Motown-inspired “Queen of Disaster,” then came the airy demo of “Black Beauty,” which will appear on her upcoming second album, and most recently, it was her Lady Gaga-dissing cut from a few years ago, “So Legit.” Now, New York City producer Princess Superstar has posted three tracks and a remix from a scrapped 2009 recording session, a year before the singer released her Lana Del Rey a.k.a. Lizzy Grant LP.

These fossils show Lana still searching for her voice, though there are signs of the material to come. The songs have her usual mix of noir romance, Hollywood beauties, diamonds, pearls, and so on, not to mention the pitchy vocals that would later derail her Saturday Night Live appearance. The Casio instrumentals of “Maha Maha” are particularly grating, and the title is pretty unfortunate — “maha” translates to “great,” and this recording is anything but. “Golden Grill” and “Catch and Release” fare better, but are still a long way off the material she’d release on Born to Die.

It’s a reminder that even if you’re not a fan, Lana has vastly improved in a few short years, and the quality of “Queen of Disaster” and “Black Beauty” show signs of promise for her next LP. In the meantime, she’ll perform at Lollapalooza this weekend, hopefully bringing with her new material to bury her more innocent, less talented past.

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