Lana Del Rey Drops “A&W,” a Seven-Minute Epic About “Being an American Whore”: Stream

Lana Del Rey has unveiled “A&W,” a seven-minute pop epic about femininity, sexuality, criticism, and, as she puts it, “the experience of being an American whore.”Co-written and co-produced by Jack Antonoff, “A&W” is really two songs in one, the first floating lightly over pianos and acoustic guitars and the second descending into darkness over pulsing 808s. The initial, longer movement opens with Del Rey putting some distance between herself and childhood. It sounds like the weight of expectations from the first half have driven her mad. “A&W” appears on Del Rey’s March 24th album, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. Later this summer, she’ll co-headline Brazil’s MITA Music Festival.