Surf Noir is a style of music that is sexy, dark and dangerous all at the same time. It’s Bond music gone even badder. Haunting melodies combined with ominous themes and topped off with a sleek California beach edge gives you what is at the heart and soul of this relatively untapped genre of music. Two artists who spotlight what surf noir is all about are Lana Del Rey and the recently popular band The Neighbourhood.
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Lana Del Rey, formerly known as Lizzy Grant, is a bluesy, lounge style singer who grew up in New York. Her music has been influenced by many artists from Elvis Presley to Eminem to Marilyn Monroe. Her obsession with emulating Hollywood glamour pushed her away from the quintessential singer/songwriter mold of so many aspiring New York artists and enabled here to create a unique, groundbreaking style of music. When Lana put together her first album, she drew inspiration from films like the original James Bond movies and other pictures popular throughout the 50’s and 60’s. Her first music videos were actually homemade, featuring pieces of movie scenes that she felt a connection with. You can view an example of one of her early videos below.
Lana Del Rey Kinda Outta Luck by le-pere-de-colombe
The Neighbourhood is a band from “Califournia,” as it is written on their facebook page. Being from the US, there’s no telling what gave this band their propinquity for spelling words in the style of the queen. The truth is, there is no telling in very many respects for this band. They don’t publicize very much about their lives before becoming a band. So there’s no indication of why their music has the dark edge that it does. Still, backstory or not, the melodies and hip-hop/rock fusion draws you in and makes you really take notice. Check out the video for their first singe “Female Robbery” below.
Be sure to tune in to the April 18th installment of the Magical Mystery Tour, where I will be taking you on the adventure of your life through the realm of surf noir!
