Vulture named A&W one of the best songs of 2023 so far
“A&W,” Lana Del Rey
The first half of “A&W” is Lana Del Rey at her purest: a chronicler of dark Americana, eight albums distilled. The singer-songwriter goes inside the mind of a sex-addled California girl, murmuring and mumbling in the sweet spot of ’70s soft pop she’s found since working with super producer Jack Antonoff. A line like “This is the experience of being an American whore” could veer toward caricature if Del Rey weren’t as committed as she is here. “A&W” then takes an unpredictable turn: The bass begins to wobble, the drums kick in, and before you know it, she’s flipped “Shimmy Shimmy Ko-Ko-Bop” into a rap about a manipulative man named Jimmy. She’s closer to self-parody at this point, but as Del Rey — and the character she’s singing about — knows, there’s no excitement without a little risk.