Lana Del Rey has revealed plans to re-release her little-know first album, which briefly popped up on iTunes before disappearing in 2008. The record, made under her real name 'Lizzy Grant' for around $10,000, was recorded with Paul McCartney's producer David Kahne.
Speaking to Bbc News, the New Yorker - who releases her first album as 'Lana Del Rey' on Monday (30, January 2012) said, "I had signed to an independent label but they couldn't fund the release of it.People act like it's so shrouded in mystery, the forgotten terrible album.But if you look on YouTube, all 13 tracks are available with millions of views, so it's not like no-one's heard them". Lana recently bought back the rights to the record herself, revealing, "I'm re-releasing it, maybe in late summer". Last year, her song 'Video Games' popped up on YouTube after being rejected by "almost every record company" for being "too melancholy". The song went on to achieve 22 million views, with Lana landing a major record deal with Interscope.
A controversial live performance on Saturday Night Live - in which she appeared aloof and distant - only added to the hype surrounding 'Born to Die'. Early reaction to the record has been generally positive, with Alexis Petridis of the UK's Guardian newspaper commenting, "(It's) beautifully turned pop music, which is more than enough".