The Daily Spin, March 27
Lana del Rey | Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd
Welcome back to the Daily Spin, the series in which I review 365 albums during 2023.
Each album will be given a rating on a scale from 0 to 10. You can look at the entire set here. Additionally, you can check out a list of my favorite song from each album right here.
If you want to suggest an album, good news! You can do so right here!
Album: Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd (2023)
Artist: Lana Del Rey
Link:
With Did you know, it feels like Lana Del Rey saw the wheel she’d invented eight times before, and said “well, no sense in fixing what isn’t broken” - which is a fair reaction, because nothing she’s putting out is necessarily flawed - but it’s 77 minutes of roughly the same material, and even the best material wears thin, used enough.
There are moments where she shines - the 7-minute epic ‘A&W’ traverses genre after genre as a balladic statement, and ‘Fishtail’ evokes Banks in the best way, RnB and electronica together in a viciously devastating cocktail. Too often, though, it’s the same muddled noir pop that never really feels like it left Baz Luhrman’s Gatsby score.
None of the features feel utilized truly well, and most often it all just fades into a sort of grey nothingness. She describes the tunnel under Ocean Boulevard as a colorful shock to the system, yet this album is anything but.
Rating: 7.2/10
Best Tracks: A&W, Fishtail
Worst Tracks: Let The Light In