Loren Kramar

When Loren Kramar sings Lana Del Rey, it is not merely a series of covers, it is an exercise in purity – he has gone straight to the source of poetic love. Through her songs Lana has provided the world a script, but like with all scripts, only rarely do they find the right actors. However, with Loren it’s another story. He is a child of Los Angeles, he is a velvet crooner who belongs behind the piano at the Chateau Marmont, and when Loren sings Lana, it is a kinetic alloy, both exuberant and heart breaking.

Living Legend acts as a double portrait. An impression of two lives overlapping on an axis of poetry, grief and addiction, Loren’s voice pulling Lana’s past into our immediate present. This is what the best covers do, they imbue the pain of today, reminding us of the extraordinary transcendence of great music. When Loren sings the words hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me, it means something startlingly new.

At any given moment there are thousands of people mid-song, curled up in the smoke of Lana’s music. Listening to Loren’s covers is a nod to the scale of this choir, there are so many of us that know these words and he is just like us, an ecstatic member of the ensemble – and with that, comes the invitation to sing along. Loren becomes a mirror for all of us who love Lana. He transforms the radio sing-a-long into something operatic, magnificent and dark. This album is a reminder that it is ok to find yourself in other people, that this is how we survive.