Move over Lady Gaga, there’s a new star in town, and her name is Lana Del Rey. Del Rey’s new album, entitled Born to Die was released January 31st and has already been climbing the charts in 14 countries. The misty voiced goddess known as Lana Del Rey, was born Elizabeth Grant in Lake Placid, New York. She moved to Brooklyn when she was 18, where she has been making music for the past 7 years, and now she’s making a splash. Since their release in late 2011, her two music videos, “Video Games” and “Born to Die,” have been viewed over 42 million times on youtube. Her youtube glory, and consequently, quick rise to fame can be explained simply by examining the unique quality and sound of her voice. Listening to her album Born to Die is an excellent way to discover the pure awesomeness of this modern day siren. The 12 songs on the album, which deal mostly with love, have two things in common; a catchy beat and catchy lyrics. These combine to make it nearly impossible to not be singing along with any given song by the end of the second verse. Also, her voice has the unique quality to make anything she sings sound epic. Take her songs “Blue Jeans” and “Diet Mountain Dew” for example, which make everyday things seem extraordinary. If this combination is not enough, however, there is another reason that makes hopping on the Del Rey bandwagon an excellent choice. Her voice is unique and completely different from anything you’ve ever heard before. It has a hypnotic quality that will completely draw you in and leave you gasping for more. This quality can especially be seen in “Born to Die” and “Video Games.” While some critics have hammered on Del Rey for everything from her voice to her name change to her ill fated SNL performance, (which while I don’t agree with my hero Brian Williams’ opinion that it was the worst performance in SNL history, I do agree that it was not her best,) Born to Die remains a good album. Her songs may take a while to warm up to, but once you start listening, the hypnotic power of her voice will draw you in, and before you know it you’ve listened to half the CD. In the end Lana Del Rey has given the music industry something unique, so go out and buy the CD, but beware, once you start listening, you may not be able to stop.