Sun-Drenched Bops for Your Summer
It’s that glorious time of year when everything is warm, gasping, and slightly moist. Which also means it’s time for the annual roundup of the best bops to cool down those airwaves. As the temperatures get hotter and skies fade to that deep summer blue, the perfect summer playlist stands tall to elevate any good summer day into a great one.
From the expected pop confections to sad disco and throwback screechers, this year’s playlist has every flavor from the local snow cone stand.
Check out the playlist below and dip your toes in with some highlight music videos.
“Glad He’s Gone,” Tove Lo
She’s back.
Our Swedish queen of sad bops and club bangers ushers in the summer sun with a chill-bop beat about helping a friend realize how much better it can be after a breakup. The earworm melody and “he’s gone” loop leads into the hardest soft-drop in recent memory. The music video only confirmed Tove’s masterful eye for imagery and shows just how far she’s willing to go for friendship—and crafting certified bops.
“Uh Huh,” Jade Bird
The Brit phenom is fresh off her debut album and already touring the US with live performances as fiery passionate and vocally perfect as contemporaries twice her 21 years. “Uh Huh” is one of her breakout hits, complete with a sinusoidal energy building and breaking with each choral run (similar to the incredible “I Get No Joy”). If her cheeky lyrics and songwriter’s delivery don’t win you over, that memorable vocal should.
“Con Altura,” Rosalía (feat. J Balvin & El Guincho)
Rosalía is becoming a mainstay on this site, and for good reason. She teams up with J. Balvin and frequent collaborator El Guincho to deliver her first foray into reggaeton, a bold but not unpredictable stray from her modern flamenco fire of El Mal Querer. For juggling so many influences throughout her discography, it’s remarkable how singular she’s able to sound. The unmatched in spectacle (and now trademark) visuals help, too.
“Young Enough,” Charly Bliss
Guppy was a damn good album.
Charly Bliss tones down their more immediate high-octane fire for a slow burn buildup in “Young Enough,” a reflective rock rumbling that holds lyrical gems (Do you remember running barefoot against the dark? / I elected to drown in you) and new-wave gleam. Their sophomore effort, of the same name, keeps the energy going and builds more dramatic shifts in the strum.
“Bags,” Clairo
“Bags” almost immediately sounds like a patchwork of disconsolate parts. Somehow, it’s better for it.
Clairo has long been evolving, from breakout tracks “Flaming Hot Cheetos” and “Pretty Girl” to her more ambitious and inventive new work. The strums are hypnotizing and the jumpy piano strikes begin to play off the soft sturdiness of her voice amidst the chaos. In the end, the song breathes as a whole, or maybe sighs, as her voice grows strong enough to hold it all together.
“Heartbreak Summer,” RAC (feat. K.Flay)
This one is perfect for a self-pity swim. “Heartbreak Summer” has that easy wistfulness of Lana’s “Summertime Sadness,” but with a production landing somewhere between the original’s slow burn and Cedric remix’s EDM bass boom. K.Flay is the star here, emotion brimming to the top of her worn and fluttering-warm vocal.
“A letter to my younger self,” Ambar Lucid
Looking for the perfect song to longingly glance out of a window to? To walk with on a breezy day as you stroke rustling bushes and contemplate? Look no further. This strummy track is upbeat and melancholy all at the same time, while simultaneously gliding between two languages as smoothly as Ambar Lucid’s tranquil, Uchis-reminiscent voice. This one calls for repeat listening.