2014 was the year I suddenly understood Lana Del Rey. I had observed her from afar, largely through the prism of controversy (the ridiculed SNL performance, attacks over her “invented” persona), but I’d never taken the time to listen to her music.

When her new album, Ultraviolence, was released to lavish critical acclaim, I figured it was time to dive in. And what I discovered — both on that record and her debut, Born to Die — is a complex, challenging performer with razor-sharp artistic instincts.

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