Sure, Lana Del Rey has split tracks with Harlem rappers and kicked it with Parisian DJs, but the woman born Lizzy Grant mostly dwells in a distorted vision of early ’60s America. To be sure, the hood very much existed back then, but LDR’s mythologized vision comprises WASP-y Hamptons glamor with occasional forays into the desert on the back of a Hells Angel hog. So when a future-leaning banger-maker like Ryan Hemsworth comes along and offers her a glimpse at the trap, you best believe Lana’s gonna get all a-titter about the idea of slumming it for a bit (via “Gentrification Goes Viral,” re: Baauer’s “Harlem Shake”).
Fairly fresh off his Mikky Ekko remix, the Canadian producer takes mournful Born to Die single “Summertime Sadness,” teases us with a little stoney dubwise bubble, and then dunks the entire thing into a glistening pool of purple promethazine goo. The only sharp sounds come from the barrage of skittering beats, plus some space lasers and the like. In sum, not a bad look for Lana, as long as she doesn’t go all Gaga on us and start rapping about cake.
