charli xcx has spent the better part of her career making pop music that never quite fit the mold of the mainstream, even as she edged closer and closer to it, until eventually she simply was the mainstream. on music, fashion, film, she sounds far less interested in recreating that moment than picking apart what it costs to survive one. if brat was the sound of becoming a cultural icon in real time, this album is more interested in what happens after the culture stops moving

Lana Del Rey has never done anything the simple way, and this week she proved it again. After years of speculation, false starts and no fewer than three title changes, fans expected one album. Instead, they got two.