Sandbox

“Open up a beer. Go play a video game.”

As a college-age male (or female), you probably don’t associate imperatives like these—as quotidian as their components may be to you—with pianos, synthesizers and up-and-coming blonde bombshells. That’s okay, it’s not a habit many of us have gotten into in the past. But if you’re not doing it by now, then you need to do yourself a favor.

You probably haven’t heard Lana Del Rey’s “Video Games” yet. If that’s the case, then put down this paper, navigate away from this website and pull up the song—preferably with its grainy music video—on Youtube. “Blue Jeans” isn’t half bad, either.

Don’t worry, you won’t have any trouble finding Del Rey online, although you may have to wade through lots—and I mean lots, especially for an artist with a total of two singles to her name—of short clips and modeling shots to find the videos. You may find this slightly annoying. Then again, as a college-age male (or female), you may not.

Lana Del Rey, apparently, is like that, full of seeming contradictions: the daughter of a wealthy businessman who lives in a trailer park, listing Britney Spears next to Nina Simone under “Influences” on Facebook and describing her genre as both “Hollywood pop” and “sad core.” With the help of her newfound label, she essentially erased all trace of a failed attempt at pop stardom and opted instead for widespread underground recognition. And, on the aforementioned “Video Games,” she makes herself out to be more or less the stereotypical coolest girlfriend ever, before mentioning that she’s more or less ignored as such.

So, you should check her out. As a college-age male (or female), you’ll probably be glad you did.