A hint of scepticism casts a shadow over Henry, Come On. Is this more of the same from Lana Del Rey? An expectation from fans hit on for the sake of rattling the cage. Somewhat, yes. There is a familiarity to her latest work but considering the wildly different charms of There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard and Lasso, a return to the Ultraviolence sound which defines the most recognisable releases is fair. Those country-like acoustic pieces which had informed Lasso, and seemingly the project that the upcoming album The Right Person Will Stay turned into, remain. Rey is frightfully honest on Henry, Come On, a song which brings in the strings as an alternate to what could have been a straight-shooting country triumph. Yes, it may sound like Summertime Sadness, but when the hits are still longed for, Rey cannot ignore what fans seemingly want.
What Henry, Come On becomes is a fine blur of what fans know, and what fans want. Rey has stayed true to her adventures in country, in finding that fine blur of openness and pursuing the new sound. It makes for a delightful experience, though those strings may be a tad overkill to the drifting nature of Henry, Come On, a hyper-specific song where those microscopic details are longed for now they are gone. Those baroque and wispy feelings Rey has specialised in for so long are brought, once more, to an expectedly confident, quality place. Do not take the relaxed style as a laid-back message. Henry, Come On has Rey at her harshest, which is where she provides her best material. There is a defiance heard in those softer tones, a wonderful contrast which Rey has managed to provide to her audience time and again.
Her skill with the back-and-forth, the confidence in the face of finality, is what keeps us heading back to her work. Those country twangs may feel like non-sequiturs but they serve as sentimental reflection, moments which cast doubt over the decision which drivers Henry, Come On. A gently tremendous song which has its roots in real life. That is what Rey does best, and she proves it once more on Henry, Come On. Those allusions to countrified living feel like a hangup of the Lasso project, what could have been. It does not make chasing the ghost sound any sweeter than it should be, but it does offer a layer of where this project found its start. Perhaps revising it would have been the right thing to do, but it would have revised the tenderness and emotional outpouring too.
What we are left with, then, is Rey at her most open. Henry, Come On, is an essential part of her discography but not for the usual reasons of heartfelt or sentimental assurances. This is a song which hears out the transition from one project to another, all the while retaining the fundamentals. Rey does well to carry forward Henry, Come On, the back-and-forth of a lover soon to be lost is a touch heartbreaking, but also a tried and tested sound. It will no doubt delight Rey’s dedicated listeners, but it does offer something, too, for the passing listener, those who will stumble onto this and resonate with it not because of who sings it, but because of how articulate the madness of an end can often be.
