The song was released for digital download on July 12, 2017, alongside "Groupie Love" featuring ASAP Rocky, as a promotional single[1] with the pre-order of the album.

[2][3] On June 2, 2017, Del Rey revealed that she and ASAP Rocky had collaborated on a track for the album by posting a snippet of the song on Instagram with the caption: "We made a lot of good ones but I think we picked the best ones for the record".

Anna Gaca of Spin stated "Even as it widens—slightly—the range of her catalog, 'Summer Bummer' is best viewed as a classically Lana Del Rey set piece: a heavily stylized soundtrack for drugs, pools, and high-contrast monochromes.

Boi-1da and T-Minus, A-list producers renowned for their work with Drake and other rap artists, have laced Lana with a heat-dazed, shade-cooled beat, a banger situated halfway between beach and trap.

It's a track that any rapper would be proud to surf over, and Rocky knows it, delivering a calmly boastful, well-tailored verse punctuated by a choice, subdued set of A$AP affiliate Playboi Carti's ad-libs.

"[10] The Washington Post's Chris Richards claimed "The album's most narcotic single, Summer Bummer, is an echo of Del Rey's trademark hit, Summertime Sadness, only more evocative.