Summer is upon us!  From chilled moments lazing around in the sun to late-night partying, here are the essential sounds for keeping it lit.

Spicy – Herve Pagez, Diplo, Charli XCX

Proof that adding Spanish guitar is always a good shout, The Spice Girls classic ‘Wannabe’ has had a millennial makeover and is sounding 100% spicy.  Now you can celebrate the girl power group’s reunion tour, all why feeling very on trend thanks to nostalgia queen Charli XCX and friends.  Zig-a-zig ah!

Energy – BURNS, A$AP Rocky, Sabrina Claudio

Summer wouldn’t be complete without a song to get you all in your feelings and simultaneously imagine it’s sunset on some beaut Balearic Isle.  Mixing Sabrina Claudio’s breathy vocals, a romantically shook A$AP Rocky and BURNS’s string-heavy production, this is the one.

Reputation – Liss

After an agonisingly long hiatus, Denmark’s best musical export in a long time are back and it is glorious.  The R&B four-piece’s twangy guitars and sentimental crooning are just what you need for chilled summer days and maybe, if you’re lucky, some holiday romance.

Shine Girl – MoStack, Stormzy

Bow down, because King Stormz has released a second single since ‘Vossi Bop’ and he is now a certified singer.  Plus, it features MoStack (of “I like to kiss and cuddle and what?” fame), the video is sheer couple goals from Big Mike and Maya, and there are also actual glitter sound effects.  I mean…

Aute Cuture – ROSALÍA

Spanish Queen, Rosalía, is set for world pop domination.  After her stunning concept album ‘El Mal Querer’, collabs with reggaetón titan J Balvin and a headline spot at Coachella, the 25-year old is breaking musical boundaries with her nuevo flamenco- urban sound & killer nails.  On ‘Aute Cultura’ Rosalia is bigger, braver, & more N.E.R.D-inspired than ever – and, as per, the visuals are on point.  Forget ‘Despacito’, this is the Latin number you need on your summer playlist.

Triggered (freestyle) – Jhene Aiko

Watch out Big Sean, Jhene Aiko is not happy with you.  Whilst this is bad for her ex-beau, it’s very good news for music fans worldwide, because the off-kilter R&B star has gifted us with a lo-fi piano ballad of sorts, part-angry, part-beautiful.  This is the one to play for getting lost in a sunset &/or if that summer romance isn’t working out for you.

Bags – Clairo

Dreamy summer indie pop – check.  Clairo’s diagnosis with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 17 inspired the title of her debut album, ‘Immunity’, and her introspective, softly-spoken music documents the general highs and lows of growing up.  ‘Bags’ marks a grungier progression from her earlier bedroom-produced viral hits, ideal for those last bittersweet days of summer.  But if you want the summery vibes to keep on going, just put on her collab with UK producer SG Lewis; Clairo can do heartbreak over disco beats, too.

What Do You Mean? – Skepta, J Hus

“What Do You Mean you’ve never heard of Skepta?” – is what you’ll be saying when you play your friends ‘Ignorance of Bliss’, aka the album of summer 2019.  This article could easily be a homage to the entirety of big chief Skeppy’s iconic new project, but ‘What Do You Mean?’ feels like a stand-out moment, mainly because we are HERE for the return of J Hus singing “the hustle is still in my genes” and, as your friends will find out, there’s no real need to explain Skepta.  Just listen, & praise the Lord 🙏

Rapture – Koffee

I feel a paragraph of fire emojis would suffice here.  But as Koffee literally “kill dem wid di verbs and wid di pro-nouns”, we should really pay homage to her wordsmith skills.  Koffee is a teenage Jamaican masterpiece making waves, and this song = everything you need to feel like you’re in the Caribbean when really it’s about 12 degrees outside.  You’re welcome, now go Notting Hill Carnival and whine.