Lana Del Rey’s New Album “Her Most Soul-Searching Album Yet”
Upon first listening to “Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd” last night, I kept noticing it was her most emotional, often somber collection of songs. Rolling Stone agreed in their review. Excerpt:
Family is a key theme on Ocean Blvd, with Del Rey processing grief, loneliness, and heartbreak in her familial history. On “Grandfather Please Stand on the Shoulders of My Father While He’s Deep-Sea Fishing,” she ponders the afterlife, offering a prayer of protection for her father, Rob Grant, from her late grandfather. “Kintsugi” tackles the horrific experience of watching a loved one die.
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With all the NFR! references on the album, the question on many minds already seems to be whether or not this or any work could top that masterpiece in her discography. But that question is futile. What she has done since — including Chemtrails Over the Country Club and Blue Banisters — has proven to be a remarkable expansion on the artistic vision she laid out on that album, one that puts her in a creative class all her own. In preaching to herself, she has unlocked the type of art her listeners will hold dear for a lifetime.
“Kintsugi” is indeed heartbreaking, while “Margaret” (below) is a bit lighter, but just as touching:
