One of the hallmarks of the James Bond film franchise are its theme songs, which are typically performed by a big-name artist or band. That’s also true of IO Interactive’s upcoming Bond game 007 First Light, which has served up a surprise release of its own very Bond-like theme song, First Light, performed by popular recording artist Lana Del Rey.
Is it one of the good ones? Give it a listen!
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Bond themes are very subjective things, which makes them great argument-starters, and so allow me to kick this one off: This is not very good. It sounds like Bond karaoke, an imitation of what a 007 theme song should be that hits all the notes but utterly lacks the depth, emotion, and understanding that makes it real. The slow strings and punchy horns are there, and the lyrical wordplay that semi-awkwardly ties the song to the film—”Dying just to know whether you’ll play your life like a game,” that sort of thing—but it all comes off flat and filed down, and Del Rey’s voice is lost in the aural mush.
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Compare First Light to, say, Adele’s theme for Skyfall, which I quite like: It’s a Bond song but stands on its own as Adele. I’d say the same about Sheena Easton’s brilliant For Your Eyes Only, and of course the timeless Nobody Does It Better by Carly Simon. Even Tina Turner’s theme for Goldeneye, which I really do not care for at all, is distinctly hers.
And yes, I’m old and out of touch, but I don’t think you can reasonably deny that there was a time when Bond themes were genuinely interesting work, which made their releases notable events unto themselves. Like when they told Paul McCartney they wanted something for Live and Let Die, and he said “okay” and delivered this:
That’s a banger, kids.
Duran Duran hammered a similar stamp onto A View to a Kill: It’s a Bond theme, but a Duran song. Even Madonna’s absolute dogshit Die Another Day at least deserves points for veering off the path—and then through the trees and over a cliff, yes, but dammit, an effort to do something different was made. And quite frankly I’d put it ahead of Chris Cornell’s You Know My Name from Casino Royale, a flat, nasally effort that’s completely unsuited for his generally awesome vocal talents.
I should clarify that this isn’t a critique of Del Rey, who is generally quite good, but just this specific track. And I’m not the only one who feels this way: PC Gamer senior video producer Scott Tanner, a self-described “lifelong Bond fan,” called it “Lana Del Meh,” which I think really cuts to the point: It’s dull, derivative, and ultimately very forgettable.
It’s interesting to note that this is not actually Del Rey’s first crack at a Bond song. She said in 2024 that the song “24.” from her 2015 album Honeymoon, was written for the Bond film Spectre, which came out the same year. Producers rejected it, however, opting for the Sam Smith track Writing’s On the Wall, a decidedly mid Bond theme that for some reason won a Golden Globe and an Oscar for Best Original Song.
007 First Light is set to launch on May 27.
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