Mallrat has shared her first new music since the release of her second studio album Light Hit My Face Like A Straight Right: A cover of Lana Del Rey‘s 2012 track ‘Radio’, from that year’s Born To Die album. The new version was produced by Mallrat herself, and marks her first officially-released cover version. In a press statement, the Brisbane-born singer-songwriter noted that Del Rey was “one of [her] all-time favourite artists,” and that ‘Radio’ specifically was “one of [her] favourite songs of hers”.
“I love how the melodies and the delivery of the original feel like a national anthem,” she said. “The lyrics are triumphant and remind me of how incredible it feels to defy people’s expectations. I remember listening to this song when I was a teenager. I often felt really isolated, and this song was something that felt like a hopeful connection to my future self. I would listen to it and visualise my life being different.” Mallrat’s version of ‘Radio’ can be streamed via YouTube below.
Mallrat – ‘Radio (Lana Del Rey Cover)’
Although this is the first time one has been officially recorded, Mallrat has form in covering Lana Del Rey. Back in 2019, while touring through Europe in support of her second EP Driving Music, the singer teamed up with American singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers – whom she was opening for at the time – to cover Del Rey’s breakthrough 2010 single ‘Video Games’ at a show in Germany.
The cover comes ahead of the singer heading out on tour across North America, playing a run of shows in September and October as the opening act for Welsh pop singer Marina. It marks Mallrat’s second major support slot of 2025, having toured across Australia with Kylie Minogue on her Tension tour back in February. She performed three east-coast album launch shows for Light Hit My Face Like A Straight Right in April, and will return to her native Brisbane to play at The Tivoli as part of their ‘In The Round’ concert series at this year’s Brisbane Festival in September 2025.
Del Rey, meanwhile, has not toured Australia since 2018. That year, she performed two open-air shows at the Riverstage in Brisbane and the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne, as well as her first arena show at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena. Since she was last here, Del Rey has released four studio albums: 2019’s Norman Fucking Rockwell!, Chemtrails Over The Country Club and Blue Bannisters (both 2021), and 2023’s Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd.
Further Reading
Kylie Minogue Honoured With Commemorative Star In Melbourne Park
Dua Lipa’s 2025 Australian Tour Cover Songs: The Complete List
Love Letter To A Record: Jack Panther On Lana Del Rey’s ‘Ultraviolence’
