In the entertainment industry, too often image is everything. Lana Del Rey embodies the notions that if you market a product well, if you make it look pretty, and you stick by the old idea of sex sells, people will forgive a complete lack of depth in the field of real artistry.

Del Rey (aka Elizabeth Grant) has most certainly mastered the art of selling an image. You may watch the noir stylings of the Video Games music video and believe that she’s a throwback to old Hollywood, and perhaps her crooning will evoke recollections of Jane Birkin’s licentious approach to song, but as Del Rey does her best to channel these otherwise classic interpretations of art, there’s a real distinction to be made. They had real talent.

As one listens, really listens, to this album there is one fact that is clear; this is pop music, to the extent that, at times, the words coming out of this singer’s mouth are downright vapid. In and of itself that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If you want to be like Britney, be like Britney. But don’t emulate pop stars while you sell your brand as something classic from bygone eras.

This is not to say that the music is necessarily bad, but in being pop music it has a flavor-of-the-month quality to it. Born to Die isn’t an album I’ll be listening to a year from now; the thing is that music such as this doesn’t possess longevity. Lana Del Rey will inspire a double take with her looks, and certainly make you take notice with her husky singing style, but after listening to the album you may find yourself thinking, ‘what’s next’.

That was certainly my thoughts after the Video Games buzz died down. The rest of the album consists of a formula that is rather cliché; words of heartbreak, longing, and fantasies of decadent escapism. You get the impression that the man Del Rey sings to and sings about is little more than an investment banking man-child.

As alluded to before, the Lana Del Rey brand is not a new thing, but even the most poppy of artists have a relevance in the years that they are famous. Del Rey missed the Spice Girls bus, and in a time of global economic turmoil lyrics about socialite indulgences and the Hamptons are not only irrelevant, they are insipid too.

The music that accompanies this package of self-indulgent wordplay has an overproduced quality to it, sometimes seeming like the attempts of a record exec to humour the artiste’s shallow outlook. The tunes are uninspired, and seem to be relegated to background noise designed to ensure that Del Rey’s persona is front and center. Born to Die is most certain to spawn a legion of terrible remixes, so that brand Del Rey can be enjoyed while you bust a move.

Lana Del Rey certainly has the prerogative to be a sexual being, and exude the qualities that accompany such a personality, for commercial purposes. There is certainly nothing wrong with that. However, when her music glorifies the notion of living for another, and being the object of someone else’s desire, it’s hard to believe that this sexuality is a manifestation of self confidence, in the manner of pop stars like Madonna. Instead Lana Del Rey comes across as a person desperate for validation through the acquisition of someone else’s approval. One could argue that as a reality of most performers, however, in this case it is not only a contradiction, but is also a message which in this day and age should be considered troubling.

Asad Khawaja hosts Moonlight Mile Thursdays 10pm to 12 midnight on CityFM89