{"id":1006484,"date":"2023-03-24T15:01:56","date_gmt":"2023-03-24T12:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1006484"},"modified":"2023-03-24T15:01:56","modified_gmt":"2023-03-24T12:01:56","slug":"5-takeaways-from-lana-del-reys-new-album-did-you-know-that-theres-a-tunnel-under-ocean-blvd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1006484","title":{"rendered":"5 Takeaways From Lana Del Rey\u2019s New Album\u00a0*Did You Know That There\u2019s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd*"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Columns<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

5 Takeaways From Lana Del Rey\u2019s New Album\u00a0Did You Know That There\u2019s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd<\/em><\/h1>\n
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Everything you need to know going into the singer-songwriter\u2019s most freewheeling album yet.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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By <\/span>Quinn Moreland<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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Image by Marina Kozak, photo by Gilbert Flores\/Billboard via Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n
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Lana Del Rey\u2019s ninth album is her longest yet, with 16 tracks spanning 77 minutes, from the monumental recent single \u201cA&W,\u201d which includes a gum-snapping outro that nods back to her earlier work, to \u201cTaco Truck x VB,\u201d featuring a previously unheard alternate version of \u201cVenice Bitch,\u201d from her 2019 masterpiece\u00a0Norman Fucking Rockwell!<\/em>\u00a0After years of filling her songs with savvy references to the history of pop music, it feels apt that she\u2019s so overtly calling back to her own work here.<\/p>\n

Since Lana\u2019s previous record, 2021\u2019s\u00a0Blue Banisters<\/em>, which\u00a0made her the artist with the most No. 1s on\u00a0Billboard<\/em>\u2019s Alternative Albums chart, she appeared on \u201cSnow on the Beach\u201d off Taylor Swift\u2019s\u00a0Midnights<\/em>, released a wafting ballad called \u201cWatercolor Eyes\u201d for the HBO series\u00a0Euphoria<\/em>, and heard her 2017 track \u201cWhite Mustang\u201d\u00a0covered by one of her heroes, Cat Power. But then, last October, Lana\u00a0announced on Instagram that a laptop, three video cameras, and multiple hard drives were stolen from her car, leading to leaks of unfinished songs and the loss of a manuscript for an upcoming book. And now, after those ups and downs, she is back with another transmission from the Lana-verse. Here are five takeaways.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Lana\u2019s world (and she\u2019s living in it)<\/div>\n

On recent records, Lana has moved away from the hyper-curated imagery of her early days\u2014femme-fatale melancholy, romantic Americana, ambiguous nihilism\u2014towards more autobiographical songwriting. \u201cWhen I did\u00a0Norman Fucking Rockwell!<\/em> it was about world-building, whereas this was straight vibing,\u201d she recently told Billie Eilish in\u00a0an\u00a0Interview<\/em> cover story. Accordingly, the songs on\u00a0Ocean Blvd<\/em> are freewheeling explorations of perception and identity that feel particularly spontaneous.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For insight into where Lana\u2019s mind is at these days, consider the title\u2019s source of inspiration. There is indeed a tunnel under Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach, California. Originally built as an underground walkway to the beach, the\u00a0Jergins Tunnel has been closed since the late \u201960s. In an\u00a0interview with\u00a0Rolling Stone,<\/em> Lana explained how the mothballed passage related to the album\u2019s themes. \u201cWould it be a worrisome concept to be boxed out and sealed up with all these beautiful things inside with no one able to gain access except maybe family,\u201d she said. \u201cWould it probably, plausibly, get to the point where it became a body of work that made me a vessel that was sequestered to the point where only family would have access to the metaphorical tunnel?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Grant family reunion soundtrack<\/div>\n

On opening track \u201cThe Grants,\u201d Lana (n\u00e9e Elizabeth Grant) establishes family as a central throughline on the album and in her life: \u201cDoin\u2019 the hard stuff, I\u2019m doin\u2019 my time\/I\u2019m doin\u2019 it for us, for our family line.\u201d Later, on \u201cFingertips,\u201d she ruminates on people and places who have impacted her 37 years on Earth: an uncle who died in Rocky Mountain National Park; a childhood sweetheart from Lake Placid, New York who was killed in a car accident at age 23; the memories of tears shed in Monaco. Poignantly, she reflects on a troubled relationship with her mom (\u201cWhat kind of mother was she to say I\u2019d end up in institutions?\u201d) while also asking maternal questions of herself. Then there\u2019s \u201cGrandfather Please Stand on the Shoulders of My Father While He\u2019s Deep-Sea Fishing,\u201d which paints a lingering familial picture with its title alone.<\/p>\n

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\"Lana<\/span><\/p>\n
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Did You Know That There\u2019s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd<\/em><\/div>\n
Lana Del Rey<\/div>\n

Read the Review<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A guest list only Lana could put together<\/div>\n

Ocean Blvd<\/em> once again reunites Lana with\u00a0Norman Fucking Rockwell!<\/em> and\u00a0Chemtrails Over the Country Club<\/em> producer\u00a0Jack Antonoff, but he is one of several people who contributed to the album\u2019s sound. Lana\u2019s ex-boyfriend, cameraman Mike Hermosa, also appears as a producer and writer. The pair wrote a handful of songs together during informal Sunday-afternoon sessions including \u201cThe Grants,\u201d the\u00a0title track, \u201cLet the Light In,\u201d \u201cPeppers,\u201d and \u201cTaco Truck x VB.\u201d<\/p>\n

The album features the most guests on a Lana record since 2017\u2019s\u00a0Lust for Life<\/em>.\u00a0Father John Misty stops by for the duet \u201cLet the Light In.\u201d \u201cThe Grants\u201d begins with vocals from Whitney Houston\u2019s former backup singers Melodye Perry and Pattie Howard. \u201cJudah Smith Interlude\u201d includes four-and-a-half minutes of a sermon from the\u00a0titular pastor of the celebrity-approved megachurch Churchome, who previously appeared on Justin Bieber\u2019s 2021\u00a0Freedom<\/em> EP.\u00a0Jon Batiste appears on \u201cCandy Necklace\u201d and \u201cJon Batiste Interlude\u201d (\u201cI rarely have new friends sit at my old piano,\u201d Lana said of the composer in a\u00a0note to fans). \u201cParis, Texas\u201d features piano from\u00a0SYML, the solo venture of Brian Fennell, previously of the indie rock group\u00a0Barcelona. The Franco-British pianist\u00a0Riopy contributes keys to \u201cGrandfather Please Stand\u2026\u201d And Antonoff sings on \u201cMargaret,\u201d which makes sense considering that the song was written as an ode to his\u00a0fianc\u00e9e, actress Margaret Qualley. \u201cPeppers\u201d samples Canadian rapper\u00a0Tommy Genesis\u2019 2015 track \u201cAngelina,\u201d which appeared on her album\u00a0World Vision<\/em>. Phew!<\/p>\n

Lana the role model<\/div>\n

In the early years of her career, Lana was often maligned for what some critics considered to be unempowering feminism. By 2017, honest storytelling about complex inner worlds in the Lana mold became popular\u2014and lucrative\u2014in pop music. In an interview with\u00a0Pitchfork from that year, Lana noted her role in this shift, saying, \u201cThere was just such a long time where people had to fit into that pop box.\u201d Now, a younger generation of songwriters are giving Lana her flowers for pushing the boundaries and staying true to herself. \u201cPeople have been trying to look and sound like you since you first started,\u201d Eilish told her. \u201cYou changed the way the music industry hears and sees music, and you changed the way people sing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Similarly, earlier this month, Olivia Rodrigo awarded Lana with the Visionary Award at the 2023 Billboard Women in Music Awards. In a\u00a0speech, Rodrigo remarked that Lana\u2019s songwriting raised a generation and \u201ctaught them that there\u2019s beauty in the vulnerability and power in their melancholy.\u201d Rodrigo added, \u201cShe never sacrificed her unique voice and perspective on a world and an industry that constantly tries to put people in a box.\u201d At this point in her career, Lana is a singular totem for an entire generation of songwriters, and\u00a0Ocean Blvd<\/em> offers another round iconoclastic inspiration.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Choice Lana-isms<\/div>\n
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  • \u201cIf you want some basic bitch, go to the Beverly Center and find her\u201d \u2013 \u201cSweet\u201d<\/li>\n
  • \u201cThey say there\u2019s irony in the music, it\u2019s a tragedy\/I see nothing Greek in it\u201d \u2013 \u201cFingertips\u201d<\/li>\n
  • \u201cYour mom called, I told her, you\u2019re fuckin\u2019 up big time\u201d \u2013 \u201cA&W\u201d<\/li>\n
  • \u201cYou\u2019re so funny, I wish I could skinny-dip inside your mind\u201d \u2013 \u201cFishtail\u201d<\/li>\n
  • \u201cMe and my boyfriend listen to the Chili Peppers\/We write hit songs without trying like all the time\u201d \u2013 \u201cPeppers\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

    Source URL: https:\/\/pitchfork.com\/thepitch\/takeaways-from-lana-del-rey-new-album-did-you-know-that-theres-a-tunnel-under-ocean-blvd\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Columns 5 Takeaways From Lana Del Rey\u2019s New Album\u00a0Did You Know That There\u2019s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd Everything you need to know going into the singer-songwriter\u2019s most freewheeling album yet.\u00a0 By Quinn Moreland March 24, 2023 Image by Marina Kozak, photo by Gilbert Flores\/Billboard via Getty Images Lana Del Rey\u2019s ninth album is her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1006485,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[54],"class_list":["post-1006484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-pitchfork-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1006484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1006484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1006484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1006485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1006484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1006484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1006484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}