Lana Del Rey, a pivotal member of today’s music industry, has easily become one of the most influential singer-songwriters of this time. Through her lyrics and pristine voice, Del Rey has spoken to millions of her fans through her songs. On Mar. 24, Del Rey’s newest album Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd was released and quickly accumulated enough streams to reach the top ten on the Billboard 200 list. 

Del Rey is gifted with the rare ability to not only communicate, but evoke the most sacred and primeval emotions through her music. In Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd, Del Rey utilizes her writing skills to organize sixteen songs touching on topics such as death, grief, faith, loneliness and love. The lyrics that the songs of her newest album are composed of share Del Rey’s life experiences and emotions, many of which her fans can identify with. 

While giving the album its first listen, I felt the first few songs sounded very similar to each other. However, after fully listening to Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd, I fell instantly in love with many of Del Rey’s new tracks. The further into the album I got, the more satisfied I became with the album as a whole. The songs “Paris, Texas” and “Grandfather please stand on the shoulders of my father while he’s deep-sea fishing” both left me with chills. Del Rey’s voice in these two songs is absolutely heavenly; the marriage between her lyrics and melodies are awe inspiring. 

Contrary to the widespread fondness of one of the album’s songs “Fingertips”, I felt the track lacked variation in sound. While the lyrics of “Fingertips” were beautiful, the way the song sounded made me feel it was missing something. I think that the albums greatest attributes lay within “Paris, Texas”, “Let The Light In” and “Margaret”. These three songs particularly stand out to me because Del Rey’s voice and overall musical composure sounds ethereal in them. 

Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd, is a beautiful and poetic album that was produced straight out of the soul of Del Rey. Each song stimulates a different listening experience, projecting listeners through musical heaven.