My first listen to Lana Del Rey’s Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd felt like I was reading her diary. I felt like I shouldn’t have been listening to her pour her heart out, but her ethereal voice and the captivating production kept me hooked. It felt horrifyingly captivating. Lana’s ninth LP is easily one of her best albums to date. It’s an album that is wholly and unabashedly Lana Del Rey.
The album opens with a chorus introducing “The Grants.” Lana pays homage to her family, promising to remember them no matter what. The album focuses on the Grants, namely her father, sister, brother and late uncle. She pleads for her father’s safety to her grandfather’s spirit, pays homage to her siblings’ journeys and remembers her beloved uncle on “Kintsugi.” These songs may not be very relatable, since they’re about Lana’s family, but they’re not meant to be and neither is this album.
It is no secret that the interludes on this album are not fan favourites, particularly the “Judah Smith Interlude.” This strange sermon is meant to make listeners unsettled, but it ties the atmospheric ambiance of this album together. As Lana giggles in the background, the pastor admits what his sermon—and consequently, Ocean blvd—is truly about: “I’ve discovered my preaching is mostly about me.” Lana spells out in plain sight that none of her work is truly about the listeners—it’s about her. After more than a decade in the music industry, this selfishness is well-deserved.
In 2014, Lana did an interview where she said, “I wish I was dead already.” To this day, the quote haunts her at every turn. It has become something critics have picked at record after record. For years, she wished to be taken seriously and have her songwriting recognized for its genius. Unfortunately, as a woman in the industry, she was ridiculed and named a bad influence and poor role model instead. In Ocean Blvd, she seems to find that she doesn’t care what others think about her music. She finds catharsis in bearing her soul to the masses, especially in tracks like “Fingertips,” where she details her lowest moments and darkest fears. Yet on tracks like “Peppers” and “Taco Truck x VB,” she is carefree and lighthearted, having fun with the psychedelic melodies borrowed from earlier albums. Ironically, critics are finally giving her songwriting the acclaim it has always deserved.
Many tracks borrow samples and snippets from Lana’s previous records. The chorus of “Fishtail” sounds exactly like the chorus of “Chemtrails Over the Country Club” and “Taco Truck x VB” includes a sample of “Venice Bitch,” the third track of off Norman Fucking Rockwell, Lana’s fifth studio album. The nods to her own discography put Ocean Blvd in its own little world, cultivated by Lana for Lana herself. Her records thrive in escapism, taking listeners to a new world, illuminated by rose-coloured glasses. This time, however, Lana traps listeners in a prism, in an experience of her own making.
Although it’s only March, Did you know that There’s a Tunnel under Ocean Blvd is likely one of the best albums of 2023? It is raw, decadent and unlike anything that’s been done by Lana thus far. This record truly is a little window into Lana Del Rey’s soul, and it is a privilege that she has allowed the world to take a glimpse through it.