What is it, exactly, that makes a song worthy of song-of-the-summer status? Instant earworm-iness? A thumping, club-ready beat? A screamable chorus? Some secret fourth thing?
The criteria feel so ill-defined—and, well, silly—that we’ve gone a bit rogue here at Vogue and simply compiled a list of songs we can’t stop listening to this season, whatever their genre. These include, yes, singles from Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, and a lot of tracks from Brat (look, we’re only human!), but also worthy releases by The Last Dinner Party, L’Impératrice, Hovvdy, Buscabulla, Mahmood, and Peggy Gou.
So we invite you to kick back, relax, and crank up your speakers. Whether you’re shoring up a road-trip playlist, plotting a cookout, or just looking for something to jam to over the whirr of your air conditioner, have we got the song (or three) for you.
Romy Mars, daughter of Sofia Coppola and Phoenix frontman Thomas Mars, released her first-ever single, “Stuck Up,” as part of a two-song EP earlier this summer. Usually, I would shy away from mentioning her famous parents, but I am tickled by the fact that the song flawlessly mixes that certain je ne sais quoi of French pop perfection (as heard in Phoenix, yes, but also Air) with a high-femme cinematic language. When “Stuck Up” begins, she is sitting at the edge of the pool, and then suddenly she is “upside down and inside out,” flailing underwater as her paramour has pulled her in (metaphorically or otherwise). It’s such a specific image of having fun and losing control. The song feels exactly like what the sunniest summer day feels like when you are young. —Laia Garcia-Furtado
This one’s a bit of a cheat because it originally came out in 1984, but it was rereleased this year (and has also inexplicably gone viral on TikTok). I discovered this song last year and was immediately upset with myself for not knowing about its existence sooner because it is as perfect a dance track as it gets. The beats go so hard, and then you tune into the lyrics and realize that vocalist Jimmy Somerville is singing—in his signature killer falsetto—about growing up gay in a small town and being forced to leave home. An absolute classic. —L.G.F.
Whenever Buscabulla puts out new music, life just gets better. You may be familiar with the Puerto Rican husband-and-wife duo from their guest turn on Bad Bunny’s “Andrea”—which they also cowrote and coproduced—arguably one of the best songs on his groundbreaking album Un Verano Sin Ti. Their latest single picks up right where they left off with their 2020 record Regresa: synth-pop vibes that make you want to dance but also call you to attend to your higher purpose. “11:11” is a paean to breaking free from the shackles of the ever-present hustle—and what’s more suitable for summer than that? —L.G.F.
The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess may not be a new album, but thanks to Chappell Roan’s recent supernova-level success, people are (finally!) jumping on the bandwagon. “Hot to Go!” has become one of the singer’s most prevailing hits, thanks to its catchy chorus, foot-tapping beat, and accompanying YMCA-style choreography. Not only is it a feel-good anthem, but “Hot to Go!” is also commercially friendly enough that we’ll probably hear it on wedding dance floors for the rest of time. After all, who doesn’t want to feel hot? —Hannah Jackson
As soon as the piano begins to vamp on “Sinner,” you know you’re in for an absolute ride. The song, sung with aplomb by Abigail Morris, mixes innocence and depravity, illustrating the desire to know pure love before corruption with lyrics like “Pray for me on your knees / Before it felt like a sin.” The five-piece band brings a welcome feminine energy to the British indie-rock scene, incorporating a baroque, Bowie-esque sound (not to mention their incredible fashion) that makes them feel familiar at the same time. While the catchy chorus of the excellent “Nothing Matters” has already found its way to a corner of TikTok, the entire group is firing on all cylinders with “Sinner.” —H.J.
Coming off Tako Tsubo, the funky record that introduced them to American audiences, French pop band L’Impératrice is back with another nu-disco album, Pulsar. The six-piece group capitalized on its (relatively) new US popularity by collaborating with Maggie Rogers, begetting one of Pulsar’s standouts, “Any Way.” Sure, time may be fleeting, and not all relationships are built to last, but over the synthy beats, Rogers and fellow vocalist Flore Benguigui make it all feel worthwhile anyway. —H.J.
With “Good Luck, Babe!” as her first single since The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, it’s easy to see why Chappell Roan earned her first Top 40 breakthrough. The song’s rancorous lyrics, juxtaposed with a dancy tempo, don’t shy away from the ugly side of a relationship: feelings of longing and spite. A talented songwriter, Roan brings that “I told ya so” energy with her biting, contemptuous tone: “When you wake up next to him in the middle of the night / With your head in your hands, you’re nothing more than his wife / And when you think about me, all of those years ago / You’re standing face to face with ‘I told you so.’” For anyone who’s ever been wronged, loves to feel a little self-righteous, or just wants to dance it out, consider this your summer anthem. —H.J.
An underrated track from the extended version of Brat, “Guess” is the epitome of a hedonistic summer song. Almost animalistic, the track deals with being the object of carnal desires, of knowing that somebody wants to “know what I’ve got going on downstairs.” Suggestive and sexy, the track is aided by an infectious beat from producer The Dare, making for a brilliantly raunchy banger. God forbid we hear this one in the club! —H.J.
The really good ones work for everything, and I bopped and cried at different lyrics in the Charli + Lorde remix, I think even before I had headline knowledge of the internet going crazy. It’s a hit, and we’re all living it—not just the girls. I guess I’m feeling pretty proud of them for making something so new and true, with the help of A.G. Cook, who was backstage at Collina Strada one season with Alaska Reid. I enjoyed talking to them about how everyone feels about hyperpop as a genre. —Arden Fanning
Another unquestionably danceable jam is “Colt” by HighSchool. I thought I was the only one in on this and then went to an event at Chanel’s headquarters a couple of weeks ago and they were playing it—so people knowww. —A.F.
A skittering, achingly gorgeous nighttime lullaby from the Austin duo—pronounced “howdy”—who has been making twangy bedroom indie pop for the last few years. Hovvdy’s fifth, self-titled record is a giant leap—an epic double album of atmosphere and emotion. “Bubba” is my favorite track, but there’s impeccable songwriting end to end. Mood-lifting songs for fans of Big Thief and Bon Iver, music for the gentler days of summer. —Taylor Antrim
There are a lot of Charli songs on this list, but let me speak up for the track-one, here-I-am anthem on Brat, which combines lightweight synths, bounce-bounce melodies, and summer-girl swagger to irresistible effect. To be played again and again and again. —T.A.
I don’t even care that Gracie Abrams is channeling ’00s alt-pop years after Olivia Rodrigo did the same or that she sounds too much like Taylor Swift or that she’s a nepo baby par excellence. Just listen to “Risk” and try not to feel your body lift with the earnest adrenaline of her songwriting. “Too soon to tell you ‘I love you’ / Too soon to tell you ‘I love you!’”…thought every lovestruck teenager everywhere. —T.A.
Look, everyone else can add whatever songs they like to this list, but it’s undeniable: Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” is the song of the summer. It’s been on rotation since my very first listen (courtesy of my colleague Christian Allaire’s story on her beach-bombshell looks in the music video), and two and a half months later, it’s still putting a spring in my step. Also, like everyone else in the world, I’ve fallen head over heels for Carpenter herself: I love both her hustle (“I’m working late / ’Cause I’m a singer!”) and her humor (after backlash for filming a music video in a church, her response was simply: “Jesus was a carpenter”). When she emerged from behind a silky blue sheet in Jacquemus at Vogue World, strutting her stuff across the Place Vendôme, I audibly gasped. A superstar! —Liam Hess
If you haven’t yet got into Fontaines D.C.—the brilliant Irish post-punk revival band that, for the past five years, has been quietly releasing the best British rock albums in recent memory—then now is the time. Their upcoming album, Romance, is set to take things up a gear, with gnarlier riffs, more anthemic choruses, and plenty of bonkers fashion: The acid-house neon knits and spiky hair in their promo photos are giving Keith Flint from The Prodigy. And the lead single “Starbuster”—inspired by a panic attack frontman Grian Chatten had in a London train station—is equal parts eerie and exhilarating, with thundering trip-hop drums, fuzzy Madchester guitars, and Chatten loudly gasping throughout like he’s puffing on the world’s biggest asthma inhaler. If you’re lucky enough to see this one performed live at a festival on a sunny afternoon this summer, expect it to go off. —L.H.
Mette’s been around and about for a little while now (you might remember the former professional dancer having her head shaved by Rihanna in the video for “Lemon” by N.E.R.D.), but over the past year, she’s relaunched herself as a global pop star in the making. Most recently, I’ve been hooked on “Bet,” an adrenaline shot of joyous disco-pop with a chorus you won’t be able to get out of your head—“One day soon you’ll be loving me / I bet, bet on that!”—and a killer music video in which Mette has a dance-off with herself in an outdoor car park. This is one to blast from your speakers on a sunny day, preferably while driving with the windows down or with a drink in hand (definitely not both at the same time, though—safety first). —L.H.
Honestly, I would never have listened to this song had Yung Lean not been in the title. But having given it a go, I find the insider references (courtesy of Robyn, in particular) delightful. These include: “So fresh and so clean” (a nod to a 2000 OutKast song); “Got everybody in the club dancing on their own” (a self-reference to Robyn’s 2010 hit); “I started so young, I didn’t even have email” (Robyn’s first album came out in 1995); and—this gets me every time—“Three child stars out here doing damage.” Bring. It. On. —Laird Borrelli-Persson
Fresh as new fallen snow (it was released last week) is Toxe’s speedy “Som En Sol.” It’s accompanied by a demented video that has me longing for a ski sweater and thinking Toxe is one of the coolest girls in the world. —L.B.P.
Looks good, sounds good. “Soldi” was my summer song two years ago, and “Tuta Gold” is a fitting successor. (And, of course, Mahmood is on top of the sports-meets-fashion trend.) —L.B.P.
This is the song that all girls are going to be singing at the bar this summer. The beat drops, the lyrics, it’s the best song to scream into the abyss. —Irene Kim
The Kid Laroi’s marketing plan for the song “Girls” was genius. I mean, to release a snippet for TikTok months before the actual song so that all the big creators—including his girlfriend, Tate McRae, and her friends—are all posting about it and making dances to it was incredibly smart. The song only came out last Friday, but I already know all the lyrics. Also, it’s the best song to play on all your girls trips this summer. —I.K.
It’s the easiest song to sing along to; half the lyrics are just “na-na-na-na-na.” The music video is even set on a tropical island with hot people in hot clothes just vibing, dancing, and drinking. This is the song I’ll have on repeat during my vacation in Mexico later this summer (hopefully while also holding a drink in my hand)! —I.K.