Lana Del Rey's 'The Greatest' Is One of Her Greatest

By Maria Sherman | August 23, 2019 | 9:30pm

Entertainment Music

Yes, I luh ha: Lana Del Rey, “The Greatest” – Hands down, I think Lana’s new song “The Greatest” is one of the best pop songs released this year and possibly one of her best songs ever (in my heart, that title still goes to “Love.”) What I love about Lana’s music is despite its romantic references to the Beach Boys and Marilyn and Sylvia Plath, she writes timeless music, and “The Greatest” is truly timeless. The culture is lit. —Hazel Cills

Yes: that dog., “If You Just Didn’t Do It” – Los Angeles indie rock band that dog. recently reunited, and “If You Just Didn’t Do It” is their first new song in over 20 years. Their uptempo, palm-muted, power chord poppy-punk hasn’t aged a lick, and I’d like a drink of whatever they’ve been sipping. They’re as fun as ever, and I can’t wait for a new album. If you’re unfamiliar with their work but you’re into bands like Swearin or Vivian Girls, this is for you. —Maria Sherman

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Actually, yes, and I’m having a hard time processing it: 5 Seconds of Summer, “Teeth” – As Jezebel’s resident boy band stan, I once adored 5SOS. Then, like many young women, I lost interest. They disappeared a few years ago, did a sonic 180, and re-emerged in 2015 as EDM-lite, rock and roll-worshipping bad boys. It felt dated and boring and I checked out. (They scored their first top 10 hit afterwards, so what do I know.) I’ve been waiting patiently for them to become weird and/or sweet again so I may dive back in, and finally, my prayers have been answered… with “Teeth.” The Australian band’s latest song has them delivering on their previous promise to experiment with industrial pop sounds and I don’t hate this attempt. In fact, it makes me excited for the future. —MS

Sure: Charlie Puth, “I Warned Myself” – I have a working theory, and it is that Charlie Puth is looking to fill a pop music space left vacant by Nick Jonas. Not that he’s back with the Jonas Brothers and has abandoned the sexy-kinda-short-guy-with-an-impressive-falsetto solo space, Puth may dominate. At least, he could, right now. “I Warned Myself” is basically a Nick song, and even though the music video is corny as all hell, it’s catchy. I like it fine. —MS

100 percent, yes: Oh, Rose, “Politics” – Olympia, Washington’s Oh, Rose have been one of my favorite new bands for the better part of two years now, and their latest LP, While My Father Sleeps, has been on repeat all of August. It’s an arty record largely about the death of singer Olivia Rose’s mother, grief explored in all its ugly, angry, self-effacing forms. I can’t recommend it enough. “Politics” is a good place to start. Honestly, it was impossible to select just one track. —MS

Yes oh god YESSSS!!!!: Missy Elliott featuring Sum1, “DripDemeanor” – Each and every one of the four tracks that appears on Missy’s surprise Iconology EP would have gotten a yes this week. “Throw It Back,” with its accompanying video that finds Missy’s long braids being used as double-dutch jump ropes and Missy being carried through the streets in a chariot made from a chopped-up car, would have been the obvious choice. But I’m going for the set’s slow jam, “DripDemeanor,” which like the rest of the EP, is gloriously minimal in its arrangement (like drips on a hot surface, the chords plunk on the first beat of almost every measure and immediately evaporate) and finds Missy rapping in a relaxed flow not unlike the style she trademarked in her first solo single “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly).”

This is sexy-sweet like Miss E…So Addictive’s “Take Away,” a reminder of exactly what we’ve been missing in the 14 years (!!!) since Missy’s last full-length, The Cookbook. A good chef leaves you wanting at least one more bite—Missy’s uniformly excellent collection of four new songs will whet your appetite for many more. Let’s hope there’s a feast coming in the not-too-distant future.—Rich Juzwiak

Yeah, I’ll bite: The 1975, “People” – This is a definite musical shift for The 1975, which I’d describe as synth pop with indie rock influences. They make very cute rock/pop music that I’ve generally found pretty fucking boring. “The People,” however, got my attention. In it, the 1975 sound more like the Hives or the Vines, bands that made loud, commanding entrances to the music scene when garage rock revival went relatively mainstream in the early 2000s. I probably only like this song because of the nostalgia factor: It sounds like something I would have loved in middle school, and I’m kind of here for it.—Ashley Reese

Yep: Fantasia featuring T-Pain, “PTSD” – PTSD stands for Post Traumatic Sex Disorder!!!! —RJ