Lana Del Rey

In an era of the music industry that rewards TikTok-ready hooks, Del Rey has sprinted in the opposite direction: the songs here proudly stretch out, dismissing ...

The album’s most dramatic “now for something completely different” change-up arrives when Del Rey follows the stream-of-consciousness “Fingertips” with “Paris, Texas,” a relatively short and traditionally structured pop song full of breathy exclamations and graceful piano. Del Rey upends expectations as soon as the Auto-tune arrives on “Fishtail,” abruptly putting an end to the hushed vocals and abetted by programmed beats. Following the gospel flourishes that arrive earlier in the track list, Del Rey approaches “Kintsugi” like a hymn, her voice billowing unadorned above a piano as she prods at her grief. They serve as the metaphor for a poisonous relationship on “Candy Necklace,” where Del Rey floats into a falsetto on the pre-chorus before deploying a hypnotic singsong hook. The “VB” in the title stands for “Venice Bitch,” and instead of merely nodding to one of her most iconic songs, Del Rey fully revisits the Norman F–king Rockwell! From the boarded-up past of the title track to the post-grief forward motion of “Kintsugi” to the giddy friendship of “Margaret,” Del Rey roams across topics and deftly handles them all.

From the grand gestures of 'Born to Die' to the sprawling introspection of 'Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd'.

If it was a character back then, it was a brilliant one: on songs about sadness, million dollar men and loving men more “than those bitches before”, she sounded like a slyly murderous Betty Boop (“Off to the Races”) and a woman bruised (“Video Games”). Lana Del Rey is asking you to dive right into them.](https://open.spotify.com/album/5HOHne1wzItQlIYmLXLYfZ) Yes, she was a woman in full embrace of her sadness, but what she presented on her sophomore record was so gritty, lustrous and, as the album suggested, violent, that it became difficult to critique the dedication to her vision. Lana Del Rey’s calling card — arguably her most famous to this day — was a winking ode to excess, glamour, tortured romance, more excess, more glamour and a lick of extreme old Hollywood pastiche. The results sparkled: the woozy romance of “Love”; the gorgeous, apocalyptic doom of “White Mustang” and “Lust for Life” with [The Weeknd](https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/4aw43j/the-idol-a24-show?); the campfire sing-a-long “Tomorrow Never Came”. [Max Martin](https://i-d.vice.com/en/article/v7vjmj/kim-petras-interview-max-martin)and Benny Blanco. [called](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19449-lana-del-rey-ultraviolence/)“frequently terrible” wound up being one of the most seminal pop albums of the century. [interview](https://www.rollingstone.co.uk/music/features/lana-del-rey-she-does-it-for-the-girls-album-27426/), Lana stated that Blue Banisters was “a defensive album”, created to address rumours of cultural appropriation levelled against her. For many, it was a return to the Del Rey traditional canon, but done with a kind of wondrous, contemplative, staring-at-the-sky vocal delivery that felt piercingly fresh and revelatory. Having “proven” herself on [Ultraviolence](https://open.spotify.com/album/1ORxRsK3MrSLvh7VQTF01F)as a viable alternative artist, she returned, in part, to the sonic bravado of Born to Die. [Honeymoon](https://open.spotify.com/album/2DpEBrjCur1ythIZ10gJWw)came around in 2015, Lana’s detractors had slowly started to realise that her ‘shtick’, as they’d framed it, wasn’t one at all. She’s done it all, but has established a distinct throughline along the way, her songs rooted in despondency and a creative intrigue in the masochistic art of love.

Lana Del Rey fans are in shambles over her sultry song 'Peppers,' which name-drops Angelina Jolie.

And it’s not like that’s a requirement — in fact, usually, it’s the opposite — to be a good artist. “Not only the way she sings, her vocal inflections, you can’t even copy it, but as a person, she’s just — every now and then, you meet someone who’s just a good person. [Lana Del Rey’s](https://uproxx.com/pop/lana-del-rey-ocean-blvd-venice-bitch-taco-truck-vb/) day. [March 24, 2023] No one was expecting the “Born To Die” performer to have a hook that name-drops Angelina Jolie, but this track does. The star unveiled her new album [Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd](https://uproxx.com/pop/lana-del-rey-longer-title-ocean-blvd/), and it has fans in shambles.

Hear a companion to her sprawling new album, “Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd.”

On “The Grants,” the album’s stirring, gospel-tinged opening number, she interprets the words of a pastor by likening them not to, say, a particular Bible verse, but to “‘ [Rocky Mountain High](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOB4VdlkzO4),’ the way John Denver sings.” Which reminds me: I’m still reading through your (many) great submissions from earlier this week, and I look forward to sharing some with you in Tuesday’s Amplifier. Del Rey’s homage speaks the language of digital-era listening (“his voice breaks at 2:05”), but her emotional connection to Nilsson is so deeply felt, it seems to transcend time and turn him into a peer. Today’s playlist puts some of its best songs in conversation with the other artists it references or, in the case of [Leonard Cohen’s famous lyric](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN7Hn357M6I) “there is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in” echoes throughout “Ocean Blvd” like a cherished mantra. Del Rey’s music is both vividly intimate and highly referential.

Lana Del Rey's 'Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd' mostly stays austere musically, but emotionally, it's a powerful tour de force.

There’s one allusion to a social-media controversy over race a few years ago that is a sleeping dog she might have let lie: “I’m good in spirit, warm-bodied / A fallible deity wrapped up in white / I’m folk, I’m jazz, I’m blue, I’m green / Regrettably, also a white woman / But I have good intentions, even if I’m one of the last ones” who does, Del Rey sings, sticking up for her own sincerity. But she has been a scourge, in some circles, leaving the rest of the pop world rooting for the anti-heroine. That pertains when she starts getting more unapologetically horny, toward the end of the album, in “Let the Light In” — “Don’t be actin’ like I’m the kind of girl who can sleep,” she teases, making an early a.m. There’s a verse in “A&W” (which stands for “American Whore,” not the root beer stand) that suggests she might have experienced rape, but if she had, she’s not going to tell anybody, due to how it’d be misperceived or leave her open to greater attack. — and “Taco Truck/VB,” the second half of which is a full-on alternate version of a previous album favorite, “Venice Bitch,” now rendered “grimier,” in her words. Leonard Cohen’s “Anthem” comes up for consideration, too (as it does in a track on the Boygenius album that comes out next week). Even if, to get the full gist of things, it does call for research and multitasking — i.e., keeping Google Search or Genius.com’s fan-annotated side notes open if you’re a mere Del Rey dabbler who wants to actually learn who “Donoghue” is (a musician ex-boyfriend name-checked in passing in one song, in a positive context). The word “might” is advisable because claims to that kind of superiority can only be made after a lot of time and repeat listens have passed, of course, and “Ocean Blvd.” is such a dense set of songs to take in that your immediate response to its 16 songs might be to rise for a standing ovation… For any pop fans who are quick to use the word “solipsism” as a pejorative, this is probably not the album for you, although if you’re judgy that way, you probably jumped off the Del Rey bus long before we arrived at this stop. But for the bulk of “Ocean Blvd,” Del Rey is considering ostensibly meatier matters — starting, in the opening song, “The Grants,” with what both she and her loved ones will be thinking about after her death. Because if the former beau does stream the album, the ultimate kick in the pants for him might not be the billboard but the fact that little or none of the record seems to overtly be about him. [Lana Del Rey](https://variety.com/t/lana-del-rey/)’s new album, let it be noted that however well the record came out, it was foreordained to come in second among her artistic works of the past year.

New music releases this week include Ed Sheeran, Lana Del Rey, Jimin and Luke Combs.

It’d be easy (and a bit lazy) to place the BTS members’ solo projects side-by-side as they continue rolling out, but Jimin’s new album Face resists comparison: the tracks here represents an account of personal evolution amidst mind-boggling fame, a global pandemic, feelings of loneliness and the process of growing into the man that the singer-songwriter has become. And RR sound like it’s just the tip of the iceberg — as Alejandro puts it in a press release, “I will be spending my days writing and writing many more songs about and with her.” As a companion piece to last year’s Growin’ Up, Luke Combs’ Gettin’ Old better plays to the songwriting strengths of the country superstar, who reflects on his experiences and the time he has left (“That hourglass we have don’t last forever / Been thinking ‘bout it more and more these days,” he sings in the opening minutes of the album) in a way that’s both gracious and entertaining.

There's a deeper meaning to “Judah Smith Interlude,” a nearly five-minute rant from the controversial preacher that's got Del Rey's fans all riled up.

When Smith refers to God as the “rhino designer,” Del Rey and her friends giggle and jokingly question, “rhino designer?” In the 11 years since her debut, the singer has taken control of her own career and harnessed a cult fanbase into carte blanche for her entire artistry. Del Rey is exactly the type of person who would attend a celebrity-studded mega-church, both for a cleansing of the soul and to lambaste its intrinsic flamboyance with her friends. While Del Rey’s fanbase is understandably upset about a mega-church preacher getting a sizable chunk of time on her album to spew his meandering religious rhetoric, it’s important to examine the context of the song within the record. The excerpt of Smith’s sermon ends with the preacher discussing his own career in a larger, existential setting: “I used to think my preaching was mostly about you,” Smith says. Talking about God as a massive, all-powerful being, Del Rey mumbles, “yeah, yeah” with an acid-tongued, winking sarcasm. [a 2005 interview,](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/a29687351/churchome-judah-smith-chelsea-smith/#:~:text=To%20build%20their%20celeb%2Dapproved,their%20church%20rake%20in%20millions%3F) Smith called homosexuality a sin and likened it to “murder, rape, or living with your girlfriend.” In more recent years, Smith has become known for being more of an influencer than a preacher. [A&W](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYqky795R1s&ab_channel=LanaDelRey),” which, no, is not named after the fast food chain that serves hush puppies and root beer. The sermon seems to have been recorded by Del Rey herself, perhaps at one of the services she’s [said on Twitter](https://twitter.com/heyjaeee/status/1639117305882845185?s=20). On the track, Smith refrains from any incendiary remarks about hot-button societal issues and instead rambles on about love, kids, marriage, and of course, God. [Lana Del Rey’s](https://www.thedailybeast.com/lana-del-rey-takes-aim-at-kanye-west-and-trumps-america-in-norman-fucking-rockwell) long-windedly titled ninth studio album, Did You Know There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, out today, has launched the singer’s massive fanbase into a frenzy.

The food van appeared near King's Cross station, seemingly in reference to the song 'Taco Truck x VB', which appears as the final track on Del Rey's ninth album ...

it’s unfathomable to me to headline the second stage of Glastonbury. “I’ve been excited to tell people,” Del Rey told the station. The songs cross-reference each other, looping back to earlier thoughts and feelings, making it feel like you’re with her in her day-to-day as she muses on these weighty topics.” [March 24, 2023] It also includes collaborations with [Father John Misty](https://www.nme.com/artists/father-john-misty) and [Tommy Genesis ](https://www.nme.com/artists/tommy-genesis)and the previously announced song ‘Margaret’, which is is [dedicated to producer Jack Antonoff’s fiancée, the actor Margaret Qualley](https://www.nme.com/news/music/lana-del-rey-reveals-new-song-margaret-is-about-jack-antonoffs-fiancee-3398418). In a four-star review of ‘Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd’, NME wrote: “On ‘…

The lyrics on “Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd,” Lana Del Rey's new album, are full of classic Lana-isms. Here are the best lyrics from ...

[On “A&W,”](https://www.vulture.com/2023/02/lana-del-rey-sodas-ranked.html) she’s still dealing with man-children, now so bad that she needs to bring Mommy into things. [her infamous tiff](https://www.vulture.com/2020/05/lana-del-rey-doja-cat-stan-culture-essay.html) with the revered critic Ann Powers and she still hasn’t let the media off the hook. Clearly not the Beverly Center, though — because if you haven’t heard, she’s not like other girls. This verse comes at the end of a song about death, mental health, and generational trauma that Del Rey said “explains everything.” Earlier on, she reveals she once tried to drown herself when she was younger; instead, like Aphrodite, she was (re)born from the sea. (“A&W”) Bonus points for the way she whispers “Texas” like it’s printed in the tiniest, lightest font possible. As of late, Del Rey has enjoyed using her songs to respond to misconceptions that have dogged her career. Here, she sings about the perception that she was performing as a boardroom-crafted persona rather than being herself. (“Margaret”) But what is Lana Del Rey if not a preacher, preaching mostly about herself? The rest of Del Rey’s ninth album is full of reflections on her family, her relationships, and her past, between some more mundane details of her life. That can mean many things, from canny observations about the state of America to silly details about the banalities of Del Rey’s life.

The singer poignantly reflects on aging and recent deaths in her family on her latest album.

It gurgles up to the surface at inconvenient moments, as on “Sweet,” where she and a lover have “been making out a lot / Not talking ‘bout the stuff that’s at the very heart of things / Do you want children? On “A&W,” the sprawling, seven-minute lead single whose title stands for “American whore,” she deadpans, “Did you know a singer can still be / Looking like a sidepiece at 33?” She writes in quick, deft strokes; the simple additions of “high” and “sky” to the line about her uncle Dave make a straightforward depiction of death into a celestial scene. But a trace of resentment still appears on the lengthily titled Ocean Blvd track “Grandfather Please Stand on the Shoulders of My Father While He’s Deep-Sea Fishing.” Calling herself “regrettably also a white woman,” Del Rey insists, “I have good intentions even if I’m one of the last ones.” Sometimes, she still writes like someone under direct attack. At the time, Del Rey wrote that she had been “crucified” for “glamorizing abuse,” even though other artists — she named primarily Black women like Doja Cat, Nicki Minaj, and Beyoncé — found success with songs “about being sexy, wearing no clothes, fucking, cheating, etc.” It was out of touch, and plenty of fans and critics told her so. But on Ocean Blvd, she rarely says the words “death” or “die.” Instead, her fears of aging and dying alone or unremembered have seeped into her everyday consciousness. Later in the track, she tells her siblings, “Give me a mausoleum / In Rhode Island with Dad / Grandma, Grandpa, and Dave / Who hung himself high / In the national park sky.” This is another reference to a [real death](https://mbclarkfuneralhome.com/tribute/details/340/David-Grant/obituary.html) in Del Rey’s life; her uncle Dave died in Colorado in 2016, while she was on tour. [revamped her aesthetic](https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/lana-del-rey-donald-trump-american-flag-no-more-7873135/) in 2017, ahead of the release of her album Lust for Life. On her debut album, 2012’s Born to Die, death is the looming force urging her to party harder: “High heels off / I’m feeling alive,” she sings on “Summertime Sadness.” In a later verse, she laughs, “I know if I go / I’ll die happy tonight.” She names the memories she’d want to keep as though that will make them easier to save: her “sister’s first-born child” and her “grandmother’s last smile.” Here, she leaves behind the bravado of “Summertime Sadness,” where she once declared, “Nothing scares me anymore.” Now she sounds more like a child in religion class, asking, “Do you think about heaven?” She craves comfort, unable to dole it out. Sometimes she stumbles, as on the unlistenable “Peppers,” which will hopefully be the last time she tries to rap. Processing death amid the tumult of regular life, Del Rey distills the chaos of grief into succinct and thrilling verses that make the album worth a listen.

Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd,” by Lana Del Rey (Interscope Records) Lana Del Rey is a complicated, enigmatic pop star — since the ...

“Paris, Texas,” featuring SYML, feels and sounds like a lullaby, Del Rey whispering about wanderlust, scouring the world for a place to call home. “Fingertips,” allows Del Rey to slowly ponder in a dreamy, strings-heavy ballad about her family, death and legacy: “Will I die? Del Rey sings melancholically about her impermanence in the album’s title track, “Don’t forget me/Like the tunnel under Ocean Boulevard.” On another album single, “A&W,” co-written and produced by Antonoff, the singer gorgeously speaks to the experience of a liberated woman who wears a metaphorical scarlet letter on her chest.

Lana Del Rey has been linked to Sean Larkin, Barrie-James O'Neill and G-Eazy. Here's a look back at her past boyfriends and relationships.

[made things Instagram official](https://people.com/music/is-lana-del-rey-dating-jack-donoghue-couple-appear-to-go-instagram-official/) in July 2022. [spent the holidays](https://people.com/music/lana-del-rey-opens-up-about-visiting-fiances-pretty-idyllic-family-farm/) at Johnson's parents' farm in Modesto, California. [Instagram official](https://people.com/music/lana-del-rey-boyfriend-live-pd-star-sean-sticks-larkin-instagram-official/). The pair began following each other on Instagram in August 2020; sources told PEOPLE that they [met on a dating app](https://people.com/music/lana-del-rey-engaged-to-clayton-johnson-flashes-ring/). [confirmed their relationship](https://people.com/music/lana-del-rey-talks-new-boyfriend-sean-sticks-larkin/), joking that she "would've worn something different" had she known she was being photographed with Larkin in the park. The pair were photographed spending time together as they [took a stroll](https://people.com/music/lana-del-rey-dating-sean-sticks-larkin/) through New York City's Central Park. [Nancy Sinatra](https://people.com/movies/nancy-sinatra-remembers-elvis-presley-the-funniest-man-and-probably-the-most-serious-man-i-knew/) and [Lee Hazlewood](https://people.com/country/the-byrds-sweetheart-of-the-rodeo-50-anniversary-roger-mcguinn-chris-hillman-tour/)'s song " [Summer Wine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OEron4rXfk)." Then, less than a month later, the pair were [photographed for the first time](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-4492280/Lana-Del-Rey-G-Eazy-time-romance-rumors.html) as they left a Hollywood nightclub together. She may have found just that in her recent rumored partner [Jack Donoghue](https://people.com/music/is-lana-del-rey-dating-jack-donoghue-couple-appear-to-go-instagram-official/), a member of the electronic music band Salem. [the Daily Mail](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2893162/Ringing-2015-kiss-Lana-Del-Rey-packs-PDA-boyfriend-Francesco-Carrozzini-St-Barts.html). In August 2015, Del Rey and Carrozzini jetted to Italy to attend the wedding of [Beatrice Borromeo](https://people.com/royals/beatrice-borromeo-italian-model-turned-monaco-royal/) and [Pierre Casiraghi](https://people.com/royals/pierre-casiraghi-named-dior-model-ambassador/), reported [Tatler](https://www.tatler.com/gallery/beatrice-borromeo-pierre-casiraghi-wedding). Del Rey and Carrozzini — who is the son of Vogue Italia's late editor-in-chief, [Franca Sozzani](https://people.com/style/vogue-italia-editor-in-chief-franca-sozzani-dies-at-66/) — were also seen sharing some PDA while watching a World Cup game that day.

The soulful singer has a distinct voice that has helped her stand out from the rest of her contemporaries. Her successful collaborations with singers like ...

From “The Grants,” to the masterful meta-mythologizing “Taco Truck x VB.”

track “Love Song,” her life is a love song, and four years later, that's still the case. On “Let The Light In,” Lana and Father John Misty — who is a natural collaborator — are tender and wistful about how even the best love can still take work. It samples the entire instrumental and melody of SYML’s “I Wanted To Leave,” telling a story about leaving home, and feeling alone, drifting to one small city to the next, in constant limbo. Our “Sunbather, moon chaser” (a remix of the “Chemtrails Over The Country Club” hook, “My Cancer is sun and my Leo is moon,” of course) has seen and felt it all, expansive emotions that are washed away in two seconds, that keep her heart open to more. “Paris, Texas” is a strange inclusion on Ocean Blvd. Add in her lyricism, a story about growing up and into a woman unloved by men, society, and her own mother, a woman who’s surrendered to the tides of life and the “experience of being an American whore” — and “A&W” feels like the tightest encapsulation of all the themes Lana has been writing about since the beginning of her career.

Lana Del Rey is a complicated, enigmatic pop star — since the height of her breakout album, “Born to Die,” the singer has been labeled one of the best ...

“Paris, Texas,” featuring SYML, feels and sounds like a lullaby, Del Rey whispering about wanderlust, scouring the world for a place to call home. “Fingertips,” allows Del Rey to slowly ponder in a dreamy, strings-heavy ballad about her family, death and legacy: “Will I die? Del Rey sings melancholically about her impermanence in the album's title track, “Don’t forget me/Like the tunnel under Ocean Boulevard.” On another album single, “A&W,” co-written and produced by Antonoff, the singer gorgeously speaks to the experience of a liberated woman who wears a metaphorical scarlet letter on her chest.

From the grandiose 'Born to Die' to the newly released 'Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd,' Variety ranks Lana Del Rey's albums.

There are songs mired in COVID-era imagery (she memorably sings about quarantine, zooms and lockdown weight gain on “Black Bathing Suit”), a handful of resurrected demos recorded with an old boyfriend (“If You Lie Down With Me” and “Nectar of the Gods”), an ode to Los Angeles (“Arcadia”) and a song co-written with her sister and father (“Sweet Carolina”). Ranking a brand-spanking new album above the tried and true offerings listed above feels a little reckless, but, even after a couple of listens, “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd” feels special. The groundswell of goodwill that accompanied “Norman Fucking Rockwell” evaporated during the “Chemtrails Over the Country Club” era with the singer-songwriter being criticized for everything from her brand of feminism to her choice of face masks. On “Norman Fucking Rockwell,” Del Rey pays homage to Laurel Canyon, the near-mythic sanctuary for counterculture artists in the ’60s, directly referencing Joni Mitchell and the Eagles, while paying her respects to the whole movement with an album that feels as unselfconscious and disinterested in trends as the music of her idols. A couple of tracks (“Off to the Races” and “Diet Mountain Dew,” for example) now feel out of place in Del Rey’s wider discography, but the vast majority of “Born to Die” hasn’t lost its luster, particularly the gloomier moments such as “Video Games,” “Blue Jeans” and the still-startling title track. There’s a tendency, among critics and Del Rey’s own fan base, to dismiss “Born to Die” as being a little too slick and commercial. The beginning of Del Rey’s now long-standing collaborative relationship with Jack Antonoff, “Norman Fucking Rockwell” ranks as one of the greatest albums of the 2010s. For the record, “Born to Die: The Paradise Edition,” which incorporates the “Paradise” EP, would rank even higher in the countdown. After the slow-burn success of “Born To Die,” Del Rey was positioned to be the crossover alt-pop queen of the 2010s. Elliot’s “Burnt Norton” somehow found its way onto an album that includes a bluesy Bowie interpolation (“Terrence Loves You”) and an accordion-driven ode to “The Godfather” (“Salvatore”) is equal parts insane and inspired. Time will tell if it spawns a whole generation of clones a la 2012’s “Born to Die” or feels as integral to the musical landscape as 2019’s “Norman Fucking Rockwell.” “Cherry,” “Heroin” and “White Mustang” feel quintessentially Del Rey, while a song like “Summer Bummer” does not.

Taylor Swift showered praise on Lana Del Rey during "The Eras Tour" in Las Vegas on Friday night, describing Del Rey as "the best that we have."

So I think we need to make it a priority, as a group, to stream, buy, support this album and this artist." [“The Eras Tour”](https://consequence.net/2023/03/how-to-buy-taylor-swift-tickets-tour/) runs through August (get tickets [here](https://stubhub.prf.hn/l/0Gb4zXN)). Taylor Swift on Lana Del Rey: "I just think she’s the best that we have. In introducing the song, Swift noted that Del Rey herself just released a new album, [Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd](https://consequence.net/2023/03/lana-del-rey-ocean-blvd-review/). “She knows I’m obsessed with her,” Swift continued, “and she was kind enough to make a song with me on Midnights. Anyway, I wanted to do some promo for her, and in honor of this brilliant album I want to play ‘Snow on the Beach.'”

The first, “Our Song,” from Swift's 2006 debut album, was chosen after Swift's show opener, Beabadoobee, noted how much she loved that track. “She said she grew ...

However, Del Rey did not appear as a surprise guest — which Swift made sure to specify before, just so fans didn’t get too high in an expectation. Swift gushed about how Del Rey just dropped a new album, Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard, and how great of an artist she is. “She said she grew up listening to songs from the first album, and she named a specific song.

Taylor Swift played her Lana Del Rey co-write, 'Snow on the Beach,' at a Las Vegas show after 'doing promo' effusively praising Del Rey's new record.

“You know, I was thinking that for this tour it might be fun to have a section where I would just play different songs each night and it would be just me and you and a guitar, and we could just go by honestly what I feel like playing that night,” she said. If she means that for both slots and holds true to it, it would mean there could be as many as 104 surprise numbers played across the course of a 52-show North American tour. The following night, she performed “This Is Me Trying” from “Folklore” on guitar and “State of Grace” from “Red” on piano. Directly preceding it was a song from her self-titled 2006 debut album, “Our Song,” a pick that also had its inspiration in another artist, albeit one that was in the building, if not on stage at the time. “And she knows I’m obsessed with her,” Swift continued, “and she was kind enough to make a song with me on ‘Midnights’ called ‘Snow on the Beach,’ because she’s a generous king. Of course she was going to honor the opening day of release for her friend [Lana Del Rey](https://variety.com/t/lana-del-rey/)’s new album by performing the song that the two of them wrote together for Swift’s most recent album.

A Mel's Drive-In in San Francisco will be hosting a listening party for Lana Del Rey's latest album, “Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd."

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Taylor Swift praised Lana Del Rey's new album and performed their 'Midnights' collaboration "Snow on the Beach" live for the first time at Vegas show.

I wanted to just do some promo for her, and also, in honor of this brilliant album that she just put out, I wanted to play ‘Snow on the Beach.’” Swift continued, “She knows I’m obsessed with her, and she was kind enough to make a song with me on Midnights called ‘Snow on the Beach’ because she’s a generous king. [Lana Del Rey](https://www.rollingstone.com/t/lana-del-rey/) put out a new album,” Swift said ( [via Billboard](https://www.billboard.com/lists/taylor-swift-eras-tour-las-vegas-concert-review-surprises)). Swift then gave the track its live premiere with an acoustic rendition. “It’s called [Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/lana-del-rey-did-you-know-theres-a-tunnel-under-ocean-blvd-2-1234702893/). [Taylor Swift](https://www.rollingstone.com/t/taylor-swift/) was among the millions [celebrating Lana Del Rey Release Day](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-lana-del-rey-songs-1234696106/) Friday, as Swift effusively praised the singer and performed their Midnights collaboration “ [Snow on the Beach](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/taylor-swift-snow-on-the-beach-lana-del-rey-details-1234609442/)” for the first time live Friday at her The Eras Tour stop in Las Vegas.

What do critics think of her 'confounding' new collection?

See our [latest prediction champs](https://www.goldderby.com/best-prediction-scores/awards/league-data/). Can you top our [esteemed leaderboards](https://www.goldderby.com/article/2022/grammys-2023-nominations-best-prediction-scores/) next? Discuss in the comments below and [here in our forums](https://www.goldderby.com/forum/music/). [Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/lana-del-rey-did-you-know-that-theres-a-tunnel-under-ocean-blvd/)) writes that “Did You Know” is a “sweeping, sterling, often confounding work of self-mythology and psychoamericana … [Make your predictions](https://www.goldderby.com/leagues/) at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for [Apple/iPhone devices](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1460576753) or [Android (Google Play)](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pmc.goldDerby) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for [best prediction accuracy scores](https://www.goldderby.com/feature/grammys-2023-winners-best-prediction-scores-1205284966/). Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our [famous forums](https://www.goldderby.com/forums/) where thousands of showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. there’s an appealing aesthetic looseness to many of these songs,” while the artist “sings about herself with a withering gaze.” Annabel Nugent ( [The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/lana-del-rey-ocean-blvd-album-review-b2304184.html)) argues, “Her sweeping, layered ninth album is more ruminative than reactive: questions of family and legacy, memory and death swirl around one another until they’re one and the same.” That’s a few points above her [career average of 76](https://www.metacritic.com/person/lana-del-rey), but it’s on par with her last two releases: “ [Chemtrails Over the Country Club](https://www.goldderby.com/feature/2022-gold-derby-music-awards-winners-1204890007/)” (81) and “Blue Banisters” (80). [Lana Del Rey](https://www.goldderby.com/t/lana-del-rey/) dropped her ninth studio album on March 24. [MetaCritic score of 80](https://www.metacritic.com/music/did-you-know-that-theres-a-tunnel-under-ocean-blvd/lana-del-rey) based on 13 reviews counted thus far: 11 reviews are classified as positive, and two are somewhat mixed, but none are outright negative. Called “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd.,” it’s produced by Del Rey herself along with Mike Hermosa, [Jack Antonoff](https://www.goldderby.com/t/jack-antonoff/), Drew Erickson, Zach Dawes, and Benji.

“Lana Del Rey put out a new album,” Swift said, introducing the acoustic track. “It's called Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. Guys, it's so ...

I wanted to just do some promo for her, and also, in honor of this brilliant album that she just put out, I wanted to play ‘Snow On The Beach.'” “[Beabadoobee] said she grew up listening to songs from the first album, and she named a specific song. Swift continued: “She knows I’m obsessed with her, and she was kind enough to make a song with me on Midnights called ‘Snow on the Beach’ because she’s a generous king. I think we need to make it a priority as a group to stream, buy, support this album and this artist.” I just think she’s the best that we have. [Taylor Swift loves Lana Del Rey](https://www.stereogum.com/2202558/taylor-swift-discusses-new-song-with-lana-del-rey-one-of-the-best-musical-artists-ever/news/).