8.3
Avg Score
28
Opinions
#336
All Time
16
Tracks
“Every bit as powerful as NFR... and then some.”
“The singer-songwriter’s ninth album arrives as a sweeping, sterling, often confounding work of self-mythology and psychoamericana: Lana’s in the zone.”
“For all the lacquer and haze of Lana Del Rey’s heavily stylised albums, they have often been cries of pain that cut near the bone. “Fuck me to death, love me till I love myself,” she sings on the title track of this sprawling ninth album. On the extraordinary A&W, she despairs of ever being loved: “This is the experience of being an American whore,” she offers, almost offhand. At 16 tracks, …Ocean”
“She spends her ninth LP taking a close look at herself — and reminds us she's in a creative class all her own”
“‘Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd’ begins with a mistake. As a trio of backing singers are conducted through a burst of ‘The Grants’’ central chorus line, they slip up. “I’m gonna take mind of you with me,” they sing, “mind” instead of the intended “mine”. They’re halted, coached through the correction and restart, but you can still hear an erroneous ‘d’ taking ‘e’’s place on th”
“Ultimately, for another sonically cohesive record, the thread that ties this package together is the exploration of American melancholia. ... This is where she thrives. And, thankfully, this is where Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd spends most of its time.”
“As a longtime Lana Del Rey fan, this album feels like one of her most personal and vulnerable records. Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd isn’t necessarily an album you throw on in the background—it asks you to actually sit with it and listen to what Lana is saying. Songs like “The Grants,” “Kintsugi,” “Fingertips,” and “A&W” feel incredibly intimate, while “Let the Light In” and “Margaret” are some of those beautiful moments that remind me why I’ve been a fan of her music for so long. What I really appreciate is how unfiltered Lana feels here. She isn’t trying to recreate Born to Die or Ultraviolence; she’s embracing where she is now as an artist and as a person. It’s dreamy, emotional, strange, beautiful, and sometimes messy in the best possible way. As someone who has followed her music for years, I love hearing her continue to grow while still keeping that unmistakable Lana atmosphere. This might not be the easiest Lana album to digest, but that’s honestly part of its beauty. It feels like reading someone’s diary while they’re still writing it and I think that’s what makes this album so special to me.”
“I quite like it. It’s consistent, with a few songs being better than others, but overall lacking true highlights”
