Last year, Harry Styles released the single “As it Was” from his album Harry’s House in March, just in time to put everyone in that summer-anticipating mood.
The album dropped on May 20, and the opening song “Music for a Sushi Restaurant” swept through TikTok. It was clear—these were the songs of the summer.
Now, it’s June 21—where is this year’s Harry’s House?
As I sat down the other day to put the finishing touches on my summer playlist, which I’ve been curating since February, I noticed a lack of such songs, the ones with seemingly universal appeal, those undeniable summer anthems.
Despite several great music releases in the last few weeks, not much stands out as a “song of the summer” just yet.
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A few commented on a TikTok I posted about this dilemma with what they believed were the songs of the summer. A few mentioned Noah Kahan’s deluxe album Stick Season (We’ll all be here forever), which released last week.
Last July, the folk singer released “Stick Season,” the first single of his album with the same name. The song came to define my summer, without a doubt—I can remember playing it for my friends as we were sitting on a dock watching the sun set over the bay, then listening to it again as I was biking home that evening.
The Stick Season deluxe version included seven new tracks, none of which, I think, fit any kind of beginning-of-summer vibe (they’re all amazing, nonetheless).
Even the release of Susannah Joffe’s “Your Mother’s Name,” which I, along with many, have been anticipating for months, doesn’t fit the criteria for a summer song to me.
The formula for creating a song of the summer, to me, is both timing and mood. “As it Was,” an up-beat pop single dropping in the middle of spring, just as everyone’s starting to think about warm weather, was perfect. Then the whole album dropping before Memorial Day was even better.
“Your Mother’s Name” and Stick Season (We’ll all be here forever) just made the deadline to be good kick-off-the-summer songs, but lack that sunshine quality—no one’s running to TikTok to make edits of their vacation to them. These are roll-your-windows-down and soak-up-the-sun type songs.That could just be me, though.
According to Spotify Charts, “Ella Baila Sola” by Eslabon Armado Peso Pluma and “WHERE SHE GOES” by Bad Bunny were the top most listened to tracks from May 27 to June 19. “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus was #6 and “As it Was” was #8.
If I had to pick the two songs I believe are the closest to being the songs of the summer, or in other words, the closest we have to this year’s “Music for a Sushi Restaurant,” I’d choose “Blame Brett” by The Beaches and “Summer Wind” by the 502s.
Both songs pass my “timing and mood” test. “Summer Wind” dropped just last Friday. “Blame Brett” is a pop-punk, indie rock anthem by girl group The Beaches about being reckless with peoples hearts because someone broke yours—what better way to kick off hot girl summer than that?
The only problem is, neither has the same reach as Harry’s House. It’s possible they’re just reaching the niche side of TikTok where people find new indie music (aka me).
Luckily, with the Barbie Movie soundtrack, we should have some new summer bangers coming up soon. Until then, here’s my summer playlist (so far) live on Spotify: