March 23 American singer, songwriter and record producer Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, popularly known by her stage name of Lana Del Rey (LDR), released her ninth studio album Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. The album is also known as Ocean Blvd; it consists of 16 songs and is 78 minutes long. 

The songstress teased the album with early releases of singles like “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd”, “A&W” and “The Grants”. All the songs were received well by fans, with “A&W” gaining particular acclaim for its relatability to many women, who make up the majority of LDR’s listeners. 

Unlike her older albums that sing of Americana and desire, LDR looks inwards on Ocean Blvd. She ponders God and the afterlife, marriage and family and the soul and immortality. An entire track on the album is devoted to a sermon about lust given by the Beverly Hills pastor Judah Smith. If that’s not indicative of the deep introspection taking place in the album, I’m not sure what else is.

The album has been interpreted as a metaphorical tunnel; she expresses personal and dark themes while she travels through it, then shifts to a brighter, more positive note when she exits the tunnel and finds the light at the end of it.

Ocean Blvd featured other artists like Jon Batiste, SYML, Riopy, Father John Misty, Bleachers and Tommy Genesis.

LDR has yet to announce an accompanying tour for Ocean Blvd, but she is scheduled to perform at several international and domestic music festivals throughout the summer and into the fall.

She will be making an appearance at Music Is The Answer (MITA), which takes place in Rio, Brazil May 27 and 28, then São Paulo June 3 and 4. Still abroad, she will then perform at Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ) in Quebec, Canada June 15, along with the Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, England in late June.

Once she returns to the States, LDR will headline three more festivals: Lollapalooza in Chicago, Illinois August 6, Outside Lands in San Francisco, California the following weekend August 12 and All Things Go in Columbia, Maryland October 1.

Fans, including myself (I’ll be at the Outside Lands show!), are eagerly awaiting these performances to hear the new album live. LDR’s vocal skill makes her emotional lyrics all the more powerful, and witnessing her raw vulnerability in person is guaranteed to be memorable. Ocean Blvd gets a 5/5.