Reviewing Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard by Lana Del Rey

Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard by Lana Del Rey was released on March 24th, 2023, featuring 16 impassioned tracks, whether they are poignant, funky, jubilant, or nostalgic. As a Lana Del Rey fan since 2020, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard is not one of my favorite Lana Del Rey albums, as there are many other Lana Del Rey albums I love more such as Honeymoon, Norman Rockwell, Ultraviolence, and Lust for Life; but I like it. It’s different, not your everyday album. Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard has a very unique sound to it, one I can best describe as a combination of an ode to her older albums, especially Norman Rockwell and Honeymoon, coincidentally my two favorite Lana Del Rey albums ever, a concept album experimenting with different sounds and musical genres, and a melangé of her older albums Norman Rockwell, Honeymoon, and Blue Banisters, adorned with poignant newer tracks such as Maragret, A&W, and Candy Necklace. Her more unique instrumental production on this album includes new instruments in Peppers, Paris, Texas, Fishtail, and Taco Truck x VB. Moreover, she dedicates two tracks on the album as odes to her older albums such as Norman Rockwell and Honeymoon. On Taco Truck x VB, she starts out the first part of the song, Taco Truck, as a funky, whimsical track, then transitioning into a three-minute trap remix of her nearly ten-minute track, Venice Beach, on Norman Rockwell. On The Grants, she dedicates a song not only to her family, but also to her 2015 track Terrence Loves You from her fourth studio album Honeymoon. The musical styles and instrumental production in The Grants is very similar to Terrence Loves You; however, unlike Taco Truck x VB it’s only a very similar track rather than a rerecording. In conclusion, I love Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard as it features a diverse melangé of sound while experimenting with new sound combined with referencing her older tracks. By referencing her older tracks, Lana Del Rey connects with her fans by referencing and re-producing tracks that she knows her fans love. While there’s definitely a few tracks I’m not a fan of such as the Jon Batiste Interlude and Judah Smith Interlude, I enjoy the unique sound Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard has to offer.