LANA DEL REY — SIR RINGO STARR —

CHEMTRAILS OVER THE COUNTRY CLUB

IT’S likely you are already familiar with the themes of Lana Del Rey’s latest album.

The American songstress has been mining ideas of doomed youth, troubled love and the price of fame for six albums now, but with increasingly powerful results.

2019’s Norman F ****** Rockwell! was a career high that alchemised those ideas perfectly, but the songwriting here is not as consistent. Long-standing collaborator Jack Antonoff facilitates her vision with gossamer 12-string acoustic guitar on the title track and dense but quiet percussion on the enticing if overlong Tulsa Jesus Freak.

On Dance Till We Die, Del Rey sings “I’m covering Joni,” shortly before doing just that with a version of Mitchell’s For Free.

7/10

(Review by Alex Green)

AN EP seems a curious choice for such an established act, but Zoom In makes a nice little package for the famously unambitious drummer of the greatest band on Earth. Starr’s voice has a charming, rough-edged quality on Here’s To The Nights, though the little help he has from his friends (who include Sheryl Crow and Sir Paul McCartney) fails to add much to the syrupy ballad.

Zoom In Zoom Out sees Sir Ringo punning on the lockdown craze for calling loved ones virtually, set to an inoffensive blues backing. He channels the cheeky jauntiness of Madness in Not Enough Love In The World, a song that will please fans of his minimalist drumming style.

It’s probably saying something that the most interesting track is Waiting For The Tide To Turn, a swampy reggae number that hits some of the right notes.

6/10

(Review by Rachel Farrow)