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In Lana Del Rey’s discography, each album crafts a distinctive sonic space. The washed-out grit of 2014’s Ultraviolence dropped you in the desert, 2019’s Norman F***ing Rockwell! pushed you out to sea away from a coastline in flames. Most of her records felt solitary, as if Del Rey was surrounded by a spotless American expanse. In this way, Did you know? is a departure, opening with a group of singers rehearsing and kicking off an album that feels like a languid, dreamlike trip through a vast house with rooms occupied by Del Rey and her collaborators. Did you know? is sprawling, drifting through swells of chamber pop (“Sweet”), skittish acoustic/electronic pieces, (“A&W”), and plaintive piano ballads (“Kintsugi”). Del Rey balances intimacy, largely conveyed through her agile and emotive vocals, with a gentle feeling of community. She frankly and lovingly gestures toward her favored Americana muse through images of John Denver, Long Beach, A Tribe Called Quest, Paris (Texas), and many others, each as passing characters in the tales she tells. On Did you know?, Americana is no longer the focus, but instead the background to the rich, personal stories Del Rey conveys like a troubadour.
By Hannah Blanchette
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