“Summer Bummer” [ft. A$AP Rocky & Playboi Carti]

“Summer Bummer,” the latest single released off Lana Del Rey’s upcoming album Lust for Life, is not a traditional contender for the song-of-the-summer flower crown. It’s sticky, but in a dense and oppressive, not light and carefree, way.

Even in Del Rey’s songs with a cooler temperature, there’s a humidity to her voice, a thickness that slows her tongue.On a song as hazy as “Summer Bummer,” it’s so pregnant with it, a storm feels imminent. With the full force of that heavy warmth settling onto it, she renders the track woozy as she murmurs about “white lines and black beaches, blood-red sangria.” Listless delivery paired with such vivid description is a hallmark of her work, and here it functions as a cocoon you don't want to escape even as you feel the knife’s edge of danger. Del Rey wants summer lovin’ too, yet there’s little innocence in her voice when she drawls to her would-be “undercover lover,” “Don’t be a bummer, babe.”

A$AP Rocky and Playboi Carti’s contributions feel a little unnecessary, as Del Rey has no trouble carrying a track on her own. Near the end, her voice suddenly jumps an octave and, for a moment, floats sweetly atop the roiling fever dream. She says her lover’s making her crazy, and this affair is probably doomed thanks to his demons. But right now, the black hole sun hanging in the sky is more of a threat, and staying in bed is the safest bet. “Summer Bummer” is on repeat.