Lana Del Rey’s iconic new album redefines the perceptions of womanhood and growth in solitude

Her ninth studio album, published March 24, 2023, “Did you know there is a tunnel under Ocean Blvd,” carries Del Rey’s listeners into a melancholic and dream-like state. The instrumentals create an effect of fleeting time, the violins sifting through highs and lows. In this hypnotic glamour, she describes the reality of family, life and loss, being in love, and learning how to love herself. But most importantly, the album is a critique on the decades-old idea that a woman should never be happy on their own. Lana Del Rey single-handedly creates a new genre, a timeless piece that rejects any preconceived notions telling her who she should be— and she is unapologetic for it.

Review

★★★★1/2

The First Half

Each one of Del Rey’s albums follow a cohesive aesthetic, and this album is no exception. She begins with “The Grants,” a nostalgic testament to her family, with the natural imagery of mountains and running rivers. “Do you think about heaven? Do you think about me?” she sings, speaking to the passing of life. The violins and choir follow her in harmony, reminiscent to an old hymn. She continues this chilling motif with “Did you know there is a tunnel under Ocean Blvd.,” a song as long and artful as the rest. The violin orchestra winds and trails behind her angelic tones. The fantasy continues, moving listeners with her mesmerizing voice in “Sweet.” She wishes to settle down with someone on the countryside, but only if they are better than her sweet solitude.

The following track “A&W” (also known as American W**re), is a genius invention, analyzing the perceptions forced onto women. She sings about the innocence of girlhood, the world making her grow up too fast. Del Rey questions the society who averts blame to the women for their own suffering. If she testified against her assault, they would never say she “didn’t ask for it.” She speaks on growing up hearing others think they know who you are.

Suddenly, the song shifts to a new tone. She repeats the line “Jimmy, Jimmy cocoa puff,” a direct reference to the 1959 song “Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko-Ko-Bop” by Little Anthony and the Imperials. The line alludes to the idea of a man being enchanted by a ‘native’ girl dancing. Lana Del Rey plays this image as witness to the constant perception of herself through a male gaze.

A&W is followed by a (I’ll have to admit, a pretty aggressive and controversial) sermon, “Judah Smith Interlude.” Del Rey isn’t the type to try and convert her fans to some advertently homophobic church rhetoric, so why did she do this?

The interlude is to be wholly ironic. Through almost every point pastor Judah Smith tries to make, her laugh echoes to drown out his speech. She puts it right behind A&W because it serves to explain how her voice has been silenced and interrupted. The sermon ends with him saying “I’ve discovered my preaching is mostly about me,” to showcase the selfishness behind

this organized religion, or even Lana Del Rey saying this album is supposed to be about her. In this interlude, she is not glamorizing religion, but is making a point about her own experience with religious trauma.

Lana Del Rey has always been known to add a sweet and innocent metaphor over something poisonous, as a representation of addiction or a toxic relationship. She does this again in “Candy Necklace,” with a beautiful pianic melody. She references old fan favorite, “Cinnamon Girl” by singing about the “cinnamon on my teeth.” Del Rey changes her tone upon

singing “Rockefella,” (yes just like the American oil industry CEO Rockefeller) which can be a symbol to the glamorization of a rich, but in reality, awful man. Singer songwriter John Batiste joins her in ending the song by repeating “candy necklaces.” Probably one of the best songs in the track, it is reminiscent to many songs from her Ultraviolence album.

John Batiste continues with Del Rey in the “John Batiste Interlude” with a continued feeling of a hymn. Following the interlude and to end the first eight songs, “Kintsugi” is a poetic form of self-acceptance and moving on from grief. Its title is a reference to the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with a lining of powdered gold.

The Second Half

All the songs from her album has this recurring femininity in music and lyrics.

“Fingertips” is a unique highlight of this theme, with a hopeful, but anxious view to the future. Wondering if she will ever have a child of her own she asks, “can i handle it?” She takes us through the constant-moving of life with a violin orchestra leading us through. But in her lyrics she sees how much of our life is filled with the artistic mundane.

What follows, spoke to many long time listeners of featured artist SYML, with the melody of one of his most famous songs, “I Wanted to Leave.” Del Rey takes us to “Paris, Texas” in a heart-breaking piece about finding genuine acceptance in being alone. The ‘staring at

the ceiling’ kind of track moves to Lana Del Rey’s ethereal voice. The song is a melancholic re-telling of her travels, and knowing when she should leave a relationship that never felt like home. “When you know you know,” she says, which speaks so much to the idea of trusting yourself. She sings, “You’re home when you’re alone” as a final realization that she will never find herself through someone else.

She follows with her longest title, “Grandfather please stand on the shoulders of my father while he’s deep-sea fishing,” where she owns her accomplishments and growth as her own. Using the image of ‘Frankenstein,’ Del Rey says only she sewed her success and herself together, not the “big men behind the scenes.”

“Let the Light In” begins with an old western rift leading into a full ensemble with feature Father John Misty. She is ready for healing and growth as she sings, “let the light in.” Del Rey wants to feel everything completely. In her next song, “Margaret” she shares the love she has for her friend.

Listeners are led into “Fishtail” a heartbreaking song about a man she loved who never really cared about her in the first place. He promises to braid her hair, a sort of intimate and trusting act, but she knows he never will. The juxtaposition between her lyrics “you wanted me sadder” in the beginning followed by “you want to be sadder” at the end, shows how he wanted

to drag her down with him. Del Rey ends the song with “I’ve got things to say,” something familiar to lyrics she said many years ago in her song “Cinnamon Girl.” In her old song she says, “there’s things I want to say to you, but I’ll just let you live.” This progression shows how she will no longer be silent about what means most to her.

We are pulled directly into a fast-paced song, “Peppers,” about Angelina Jolie and her braided hair playing Lara Croft, a sample from Tommy Genesis’ hit 2015 song.

A just and conclusive end to the album, “Taco Truck x VB” follows the seductive guitar and voice Del Rey is known for. Exploring self-discovery and lost love, she leads us to her old song “Venice B**ch” remembering the past with acceptance.

The cohesive beauty that is “Did you know there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd.”

Lana Del Rey revealed so much to listeners in this album about her strive for

self-acceptance and her view on the past. This album was only ever meant to be for and about her, no one else. She lays everything out on the table, musical themes from decades ago combined with a modern interpretation. While the melody feels hypnotic, the lyrics speak her truth. After everything, she found healing by herself, with her family and in her experience. Lana

Del Rey’s new album is not confined to modernity, but is a timeless piece that details themes of nostalgia and the perceptions of womanhood.