American singer Garrett Borns’s second album confidently returns to the sugary glam-influenced pop of his debut, without reheating its MGMT/Empire of the Sun stompers. Borns’s productions orchestrate a fabulous collision of nostalgia and futurism, but his songwriting rarely impresses and the lyrics lack depth. Lana Del Rey’s mannered passivity may be a boon when yoked to oversized personalities like A$AP Rocky, but on their dull duet God Save Our Young Blood, Del Rey and Borns’s blankness multiplies, two mirrors staring at each other. There are moments of transporting brilliance, particularly during Iceberg, Tension and Blue Madonna, but Borns’s best work is surely still to come.
