Lana Del Rey’s new song “A&W”: Familiar melancholy in musical variety

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Lana Del Rey’s new song “A&W”: Familiar melancholy in musical variety

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 11: Lana Del Rey performs on stage at Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theater on October 11,

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Lana Del Rey at a concert in San Diego, California, in 2019.

Photo: Getty Images, Daniel Knighton. All rights reserved.

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On February 14, 2023, Lana Del Rey released the second single from her upcoming ninth studio album, DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE’S A TUNNEL UNDER OCEAN BLVD.

The seven-minute, two-part piece is called “A&W”. An emotionally breathy, melancholic and very typical Lana Del Rey half is followed by a dark, pulsating, lyrically rather eratic part, which nevertheless holds on to the theme. The title stands for “American Whore,” according to the lyrics and a Dec. 7 Instagram post from producer Jack Antonoff. Antonoff, whose band Bleachers will also be featured guests, also shared that the song is his favorite Del Rey collaboration.

The title track “Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd” was released in December to announce the new work. The release, originally planned for March 10th, has now been postponed to March 24th. The announcement also made waves as Del Rey accompanied it with nude photos. In addition to these, the official cover and the track list have also been released, from which all features and the production team can be found. Joining the Bleachers will be Tommy Genesis, Jon Batiste, Judah Smith, SYML and Father John Misty. Also in production are Drew Erickson, Benji and Zach Dawes.

The full tracklist reads like this:

  1. “The Grants”
  2. “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd”
  3. sweet
  4. “AW”
  5. “Judah Smith Interlude”
  6. “Candy Necklace”
  7. Jon Batiste Interlude
  8. “Kintsugi”
  9. “finger tips”
  10. “Paris, Texas”
  11. “Grandfather Please Stand on The Shoulders of My Father While He’s Deep-Sea Fishing”
  12. “Let the Light In” (feat. Father John Misty)
  13. “Margaret” (feat. Bleachers)
  14. ‘fishtail’
  15. “Peppers” (feat. Tommy Genesis)
  16. “Taco Truck x VB”

In a recent interview with Billie Eilish, Del Rey revealed that “A&W” won’t be the only lengthy production on the album. At least “Fingertips” and “Kintsugi” are also significantly longer than usual. She also says about her co-writer Mike Hermosa that he is actually a cameraman and not a professional musician. However, his guitar improvisations were an integral part and starting point of the whole process.

Their current album BLUE BANISTERS was released in October 2021. Half a year earlier she had released CHEMTRAILS OVER THE COUNTRY CLUB.

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