Lana Del Ray sends love from Ocean Blvd

By Makayla Sordo

Picture of Lana Del Rey taken from Spotify.com

Lana Del Ray told Rolling Stone Magazine, days before her album was released, that her brother asked her, “Do you feel like something’s different?” 

She laughed breathlessly and responded with, “That’s so funny. I really, really do.” 

The quote went unnoticed by most and was lost in the excitement of her new album. However, on March 24, when the album finally dropped, everyone understood what she meant. 

Lana Del Ray always finds a way to slip a memento of her personal life into her albums. Each song encapsulates small bits of her herself through metaphor: a peach sitting in the sun too long, a cherry coke with a bent straw, the warped American Dream. This album, though, feels like a whole museum of her life in song. 

“The Grants”, the first ballad on the album and named after her family name, starts with a gospel-like intro that bleeds into the rest of the romantic song. 

“One more time,” they sing, “One, two, ready,” and the song truly begins. 

The vocals sung by Melodye Perry, Pattie Howard and Shikena Jones compliments Lana Del Ray’s Hollywood voice in perfect harmony, and it’s a “Welcome and enjoy” for the rest of the album.

At first listen, the album does not sound too different from her previous releases- Del Ray stays consistent with her dreamy vocals and soft synth. Her albums always seem very elusive in meaning, and the melody always strengthens the melancholy message behind her L.A fever dream lyricism. However, this album feels like a vengeful ode to the painful process of healing, with songs like “A&W” that break harmony for a fast-paced and broken beat in which she threatens a man named Jimmy with her “crazy antics.” The interludes on this album alone reinforce this aesthetic that Lana Del Ray is conveying, like sermons about adultery from pastor Judah Smith with a soft and taunting melody in the background. 

Smith whispers to the crowd in his final words, “I’ve discovered my preaching is mostly about me,” and the music fades. 

This album is a show of Lana Del Ray’s brilliance in all artistic forms. The creative vision behind each song is expertly crafted and complex yet digestible to all audiences. The isolated vocals and beautiful chord progression are the true stars of the American Gothic film that Lana Del Ray has created through this album; the final song feels like a curtain drop, and you’re left in awe. 

It’s hard to rate this album on a flat scale, but I think it deserves a full score of 10/10.