Cool for the Summer
"Cool for the Summer" is a song by American singer Demi Lovato. It was released as the lead single from her fifth studio album Confident (2015) on July 1, 2015, by Hollywood Records and Island Records, and premiered on radio on the same date via Republic Records. Lovato co-wrote "Cool for the Summer" with Alexander Erik Kronlund, Savan Kotecha, and its producers Max Martin and Ali Payami. It is a pop and pop rock song with an electronic instrumental arrangement, a synthesized beat and an electric-guitar riff during the chorus.
"Cool for the Summer"
July 1, 2015
- MXM Studios (Los Angeles)
- Wolf Cousins Studios (Stockholm)
3:34
- Demi Lovato
- Savan Kotecha
- Max Martin
- Alexander Erik Kronlund
- Ali Payami
- Max Martin
- Ali Payami
"Cool for the Summer" was included in several year-end lists and received nominations for MTV Video Music Awards and 2015 Teen Choice Awards in the category "Song of the Summer". It also received an award for being one of the most-performed songs of 2015 at the ASCAP Pop Music Awards. Commercially, "Cool for the Summer" reached number-one in Greece and Israel and reached the top ten in the Czech Republic, Lebanon, New Zealand, Scotland, and the United Kingdom. The song also peaked within the top 20 in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Slovakia, and the United States.
A music video for the song was directed by Hannah Lux Davis and was released on Vevo on July 23, 2015. The video was positively received; publications praised Lovato's sultriness and artistic growth. To promote the song, Lovato performed it at pool parties a few days after its release, and on several television programs such as The Voice Australia, Sunrise, 2015 MTV Video Music Awards and Jimmy Kimmel Live. The singer also performed the song in a medley with "Confident" on Saturday Night Live during the show's forty-first season. Wearing a T-shirt featuring an inclusive bathroom symbol, Lovato showed her support for the LGBTQ community and demonstrated against North Carolina's anti-LGBT bathroom bill during her performance of "Cool for the Summer" at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards on May 22, 2016. She also included the song on the set lists for the Future Now Tour (2016), Tell Me You Love Me World Tour (2018), and Holy Fvck Tour (2022).
Due to a resurgence of the song on TikTok in March 2022, the song re-peaked in several countries worldwide, reaching number-one on the global Shazam chart and debuting on the Billboard Global 200 chart. In response to the song going viral, Lovato released a sped-up version of the song on April 1, 2022. A re-recorded rock version of the song was released on May 25, 2023, and was included on her first remix album Revamped (2023).
Composition and release[edit]
Demi Lovato co-wrote "Cool for the Summer" with Alexander Erik Kronlund, Savan Kotecha, and its producers Ali Payami and Max Martin—who also handled programming.[1] It was recorded at MXM Studios in Los Angeles (USA) and Wolf Cousins Studios in Stockholm, Sweden. The song was mixed by Serban Ghenea and mastered by Tom Coyne. Payami played the guitars, percussion, and keyboards.[2] Lovato said the track is "an awesome representation of where I'm headed", and "I think for so many years, I cared too much about what people thought. Now I can just be who I am. I can be open."[3] She told Elvis Duran in a radio interview: "After kind of being put in a corner of talking about so many things in my past, I just want to talk about sexy time and fun things!"[4] On June 25, 2015, Lovato announced that "Cool for the Summer" would be released on July 1 that year.[5] The song was leaked the day before its official release.[1]
"Cool for the Summer" runs for 3 minutes and 34 seconds.[6] It is a pop and pop rock song[7][8][9] with a rock edge and an electronic pop rock arrangement[10][9] running through a synthesized beat[1][11] with electric guitar riffs.[12] NME editor Nick Levine praised the song's style, describing it as a "massive EDM-tinged-tinged pop banger with lyrics hinting at an exploratory same-sex tryst".[13] According to Lovato, "'Cool for the Summer' is basically your go-to party anthem song. It's definitely more grown up than my other singles I've released. It's sexy, it's fun."[4] She later said she could "kind of bring attention to people's sexuality, taking away the stigma and the shame of wanting to try things", and called the track a "sexy pop song" that could "inspire people to be themselves". Lovato added, "I know it was an awesome journey for me to be able to put that out in front of the world and not feel ashamed about it."[3]
The song's theme is sexual experimentation with a female lover during summertime;[14] it was noted for being more sexually suggestive than Lovato's previous releases, garnering comparisons with Katy Perry's song "I Kissed a Girl".[15] Tharadjyne Orisma of United Press International wrote that the song "makes some pretty racy suggestions".[16] The track's ambient production consists of a melodic piano introduction,[12] which is followed by a buzzing synth beat[1][11][12][14][15] accompanied by guitar riffs in the chorus.[7][12] According to the sheet music published by Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc on the website Musicnotes.com, "Cool for the Summer" is in the key of C minor and is set in a 4
4 time signature at a moderate tempo of 114 beats per minute. On the recording, Lovato's vocal range spans from the low note of B♭3 to the high note of F5, while the music follows the chord progression of A♭maj7 – Fm – Cm – E♭/B♭.[17]
Chart performance[edit]
North America[edit]
In the United States, "Cool for the Summer" debuted at number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated July 18, 2015, with opening sales of 80,000 copies.[34] In its second week on the chart, the song rose to number 28, becoming Lovato's first top-thirty hit since "Really Don't Care" (2014). In the same week, the song was also ranked at number 15 on Digital Songs with sales of 108,000; and at number 40 on Radio Songs, prompted by a 29-percent increase in the radio audience that week to 36 million. The release of its lyric video on July 7, 2015, also prompted a gain of 185 percent in US streams to 2.4 million, the second-largest advance on the chart that week behind Fetty Wap's song "679".[35] On the August 1, 2015, chart, the song slipped from its number 28 high to number 31 on the Hot 100 but continued to gain radio audience and streams. It climbed from number 40 to number 25 on Radio Songs—45 million, up 25 percent—and debuted on Streaming Songs at number 41 with 3.3 million US streams, up 41 percent.[36] After the released of the music video on July 23, 2015, "Cool For the Summer" rose from number 31 to number 24 on August 8, 2015, becoming Lovato's highest charting position since "Heart Attack" (2013).[37]
The song climbed from 24 to number 19 on the Hot 100 chart issued on August 15, 2015, and from number 18 to number 12 on the Digital Songs chart with sales of 63,000 downloads (up 17 percent) in the week ending July 30, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It climbed from number 31 to number 18 on Streaming Songs—6.6 million US streams, up 49 percent—and rose from number 22 to number 18 on Radio Songs with 56 million audience impressions, a rise of nine percent.[38][39] "Cool for the Summer" later peaked at number 11 on the Hot 100.[40]
On the Dance Club Songs chart, "Cool for the Summer" reached number one in its fifth week; its climb from number five to number one was the quickest on that chart since Lady Gaga's song "Applause", which in October 2013 also reached number one in five weeks.[41] On September 23, 2016, "Cool for the Summer" was certified Double Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting sales and streams of two million copies in the US.[42] On the Canadian Hot 100, the single entered the chart at number 50,[43] peaked at number 14,[44] and was certified platinum by Music Canada for Canadian sales of 80,000 copies.[45] As of October 2017, "Cool for the Summer" has sold over 995,000 digital downloads in the United States.[46]
Europe and Australia[edit]
In the United Kingdom, "Cool for the Summer" debuted and peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart, equalling Lovato's song "Skyscraper" to become her third-highest entry in the UK.[47][48] "Cool for the Summer" was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on November 13, 2015, for sales of 200,000 copies in the UK.[49] In Scotland, it peaked at number three.[50]
The song peaked at number 52 in Italy[51] and received a gold certification for 25,000 copies sold in the country.[52] "Cool for the Summer" reached number one in Greece.[53] "Cool for the Summer" also reached the top twenty in several other European countries, including Ireland where it reached number 18.[54] In Spain the song reached number 66 and spent 6 weeks on the chart.[55] The song debuted at number 99 in Sweden on August 7, 2015, and reached number 63,[56] selling 20,000 copies and being certified gold.
On the New Zealand Singles Chart, "Cool for the Summer" debuted at number 37 on July 27, 2015; it peaked at number nine, becoming Lovato's fourth top-ten single in New Zealand, and spent 14 weeks on the chart.[57] It was certified gold by Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ) in 2015 for selling 15,000 digital copies.[58] On the ARIA Singles Chart in Australia, the song debuted at number 56[59] and peaked at number 20,[60] receiving a platinum certification by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) in 2016 for sales of 70,000 copies.[60]
Live performances[edit]
Lovato first performed "Cool for the Summer" live at Z100's CFTS Release Pool Party in New York City on the day of its release. She subsequently performed the song at other pool parties,[71][72][73] including one hosted by 102.7 KIIS-FM at the WaterMarke Tower in Los Angeles, where she fell while trying to jump into the pool.[74] Lovato also performed the song at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Cincinnati on July 11, replacing Ariana Grande.[75] She performed "Cool for the Summer" with an all-female band on The Voice Australia on August 9, 2015. Taylor Whatherby of Billboard magazine wrote, "Lovato nailed her vocals as the rest of the girls jammed on electric guitars, a keyboard, and drums".[76] The following day, she performed the song on the Australian television program Sunrise.[77] On August 30, 2015, Lovato performed the song with rapper Iggy Azalea at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards.[78] Lovato, who was wearing a purple leotard, began the performance in a beach chair with male dancers around her. During the song's second chorus, a cherry-shaped piñata was introduced onstage.[79] Billboard ranked the performance as the fourth best of the night.[80] The next day, Lovato sang the song on Jimmy Kimmel Live.[81]
As one of the headliners of the 2015 NRJ Music Tour, Lovato performed the track in Saint-Quentin, France, on September 5, 2015.[82] On September 9, 2015, Lovato delivered a more intimate version of the song at BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge in London.[83] On September 11, 2015, she was a guest performer on British comedy chat show Alan Carr: Chatty Man.[84] The song was also a part of Lovato's set list for the 2015 iHeartRadio Music Festival on September 18–19, 2015.[85]
Lovato performed a medley consisting of "Cool for the Summer" and "Confident" on Saturday Night Live on October 17, 2015.[86][87] Billboard editor Ashley Iasimone commented that "the mix was a fiery performance that showed off the singer's attitude and self-assurance".[88] The song was included on Lovato's set list for CBS Radio's "We Can Survive" event, which was held on October 24, 2015.[89] The song was on Lovato's set list at the 2015 106.1 KISS FM Fall Ball on November 14, 2015, as well as the set list for the 2015 Jingle Ball Tour.[90][91] On December 31, 2015, as a headliner of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, she performed another medley of "Cool for the Summer" and "Confident" in Times Square, New York.[92]
Lovato performed "Cool for the Summer" on the second edition of the Victoria's Secret Swim Special, which aired on March 9, 2016.[93] On May 14, 2016, she performed "Cool for the Summer" as part of her set at the 2016 edition of Wango Tango.[94] Lovato gave a more soulful rendition of "Cool for the Summer" at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards on May 22, 2016. During the performance, she expressed support for the LGBT community and protested against North Carolina's anti-LGBT "bathroom bill" by wearing a T-shirt displaying an inclusive bathroom symbol.[95] The song was performed as an encore on the Future Now Tour.[96] Lovato performed the track during her Tell Me You Love Me World Tour.[97]
Covers and use in media[edit]
"Cool for the Summer" was one of the official theme songs of WWE SummerSlam 2015.[98] During a show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on August 20, 2015, singer Kelly Clarkson performed a downtempo version of the song, which was backed by an acoustic guitar and piano.[99] Singer Blake McIver also covered the song, saying, "I decided to put my own spin on it. I'm a mid-century nut so I gave it a lil' throwback, late 50s, early 60s vibe."[100] The song is featured in the dance video game Just Dance 2016.[101] "Cool for the Summer" was featured during a lip sync battle in the ninth season of RuPaul's Drag Race.[102], with Kesha as the special guest judge.
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Confident.[2]
Recording
Management
Personnel
"Cool for the Summer (Rock Version)"
May 25, 2023
- Warren "Oak" Felder
- Keith "Ten4" Sorrelles
- Alex Nice