Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard: Review

Try not to say mother challenge.

Elizabeth Grant. Queen of the Trailer Park. Sparkle Jump Rope Queen. Lizzy Grant. The persona we know as Lana Del Rey today has lived many lives and, through those lives, crafted music to embody different eras, different states of mind, and different women. As 24^th March dawned, we were gifted a new era of Lana. Albeit the date had been pushed back, much to the frustration of her diehard fans, the 33-year-old commanded all eyes on her as we listened in trepidation, excitement, and amazement (to name a few emotions). Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard is the 9^th studio album from Lana Del Rey, full of the themes we have heard throughout her career, yet her songwriting is more refined than ever – despite the unorthodox title.

To those who have heard Del Rey fleetingly from her radio hits, her music may be written off as bleak, depressing, “sad girl” music. It can be argued that it was not until the widespread critical acclaim of 2019’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! that Lana Del Rey’s poeticism and writing abilities was celebrated as it should be. The noir persona that she had built at the beginning of her career has defined her, but her evolution from the ‘Born to Die’ mindset has flourished, floating from genre to genre, collaboration to collaboration. DYKTTATUOB encompasses this to its fullest.

Since her earliest work, Del Rey is an expert at conveying loneliness, desperation, longing – in which the title track radiates at its core. Over a beautiful piano ballad, Del Rey repeatedly questions ‘when’s it gonna be my turn?’ ‘Candy Necklaces’ sees Lana delivering lines with coquette-delivery like ‘sittin’ on the sofa, feelin’ super suicidal’, an image so provocative though accompanied by the simplest of instrumentation. The project leans heavily on piano ballads and lets Lana’s voice and her poetry do all the work, as seen in her previous two projects (Chemtrails Over the Country Club and Blue Bannisters). It also sees Lana at her most personal and open with her fans, letting us into the most private parts of her family life. ‘Fingertips’ sees Del Rey reaching to her “Father, sister, brother” for support as she begs, “Will I die, or will I get to that 10-year mark?”.

DYKTTATUOB is sprinkled with moments of experimentation that perfectly catch us off guard. ‘A&W’, which can be regarded as one of her best singles to date, is a 7-minute masterpiece of everything quintessentially Lana Del Rey. Equally as personal as a track like ‘Fingertips’, she ponders her estranged mother and her own role as the other woman. On the flipside, she sticks up her middle finger in the second half, exclaiming ‘your mom called, I told her you’re fucking up big time”. Dubbing herself as an American Whore and releasing the track on her ex’s birthday, Del Rey reminds us that she can return to her playful persona that is heavily reminiscent of her early unreleased work. ‘Taco Truck x VB’ also sheds light on this playful side, with the most unserious lyric on the album: “pass me my vape, I’m feeling sick, I need to take a puff”.

Though the theme of grief and loss may seem prominent in the album, there is an undercurrent of love that beats throughout DYKTTATUOB. ‘Margaret’, dedicated to producer Jack Antonoff’s fiancé Margaret Qualley, is a tale of how the pair met – a gorgeous recollection and ode to love, albeit not Lana’s own experience in romance. She encourages us hopeless romantics: ‘So if you don’t know, don’t give up, cause you don’t know what the new day might bring’. Accompanied by Bleachers, the track is full of hope, love, and gratitude– simple emotions that shine so brightly here. Hope for love is at its peak in ‘Let the Light In’, featuring the great Father John Misty. ‘Cause I love to love to love to love you’, paired with ‘look at us, you and me back at it again’, is the simplest songwriting yet the most powerful for me, with it becoming more and more difficult not tear up upon each listen – no I’m not being dramatic.

Almost a week has passed since the release of DYKTTATUOB, and Lana has released yet another body of work that fans will hold near and dear for years to come. A cult-like fan base, there are always heated debates as to which of her albums is the best. Encompassing elements from all of her career, using direct interpolations from her previous work, whilst also showing us a new side of herself, DYKTTATUOB has exceeded all expectations. It’s crafted to perfection, lyrically and sonically – proving Lana Del Rey to be one of the most influential voices of my lifetime.

Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard is out now.