Beyond Ed Sheeran: Our Predictions for the Songs of the Summer 2017
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The song of the summer creeps up on you, often not alerting you to its presence before it drops. Last year’s indisputable champ, Drake’s “One Dance,” hit in April and soundtracked the humidity into fall, but usually it’s the sleeper jams that end up becoming your own seasonal anthems, substituting ubiquity for personal attachment—or equating them just the same.
Each year, Jezebel predicts the songs of the summer, based on star presence, chart flow and most importantly, how we vibe with it. Sometimes we are wrong—I’m still pulling for Quentin Miller, for what it’s worth—and sometimes, belated, we are extremely right (“Trap Queen” por vida). We do not claim to be exhaustive—you won’t find songs like “Bon Appétit” or “Malibu” on this list, which will certainly make it into regular radio rotation, nor will you find songs that we truly love but didn’t have room for (Future’s “Mask Off,” Kendrick’s “HUMBLE”). We do, however, claim to be moderately psychic and in possession of excellent taste. Here are your songs of the summer.
Haim, “Right Now”
I’m almost embarrassed by how low-key excited I was for new HAIM, though most of that comes from the stress of worrying that their sound might not be sturdy enough to evolve but still intrigue. That changed after hearing the live version of “Right Now,” which isn’t the first single off their forthcoming album, but is, most importantly, the one I’m obsessed with. The one-shot video is worth your time in itself, but more importantly, the slow way the harmonies thread together, with the smart echo of the refrain (“You’re saying that you need me baby” Danielle sings, as Este follows up with “Right now right now”); the build of the drums; the eventual switch from “need” to “love”; and then, finally, the crisp, almost sudden cool-off that provides welcome release. I probably like it because it reminds me of “Dance Yrself Clean,” but above all, it’s like you’re soundtracking your own movie, and isn’t that the way summer songs are supposed to feel? —Kate DriesLil Uzi Vert, “XO Tour Llif3″
If you don’t know who Lil Uzi Vert is, congrats, you’re officially old!!! Kidding. But seriously, the 22-year-old Philly rapper, who’s collaborated with Migos and Future, has quietly risen through the charts recently to finally land the song “XO Tour Llif3″ on the Billboard Top 10. Uzi, like his peppy peer Lil Yachty, prefers the self-descriptor “rockstar” over rapper and you can definitely hear that in this song, in which Lil Uzi Vert sings the chorus in a sort of a bored, pop-punk drawl. It’s a cool and delightfully nihilist song, perfect for an artist who transparently does not give a shit about being famous, and I’ll be surprised if a lyric like “all my friends are dead, push me to the edge” doesn’t quickly become a meme once more people get used to hearing this song everywhere. —Hazel CillsBruno Mars, “That’s What I Like”
I don’t listen to the radio that often because I require silence to do anything, really, but I do sit at a desk with my windows open to the wide range of aural distractions outside my window. In the past week or so, as the weather has gotten warmer and allergy season has begun in earnest, I have heard Bruno Mars’s delightfully infectious bop from every other open car window that’s passed me by. Opinions at Jezebel on Bruno Mars are varied, but this new album is something I will listen to three or four times in a row, only skipping “24K Magic” because I’ve heard it too many times, but letting everything else play out.It’s not necessarily what you think of when you hear “Song of the Summer,” because it’s kind of low-key, slowed down, and dare I say, more chill. The lyrics are whatever, but the video is wonderful as is tiny, lovely Bruno Mars. Listen to it on repeat, like I do sometimes. Picture yourself at an outdoor function, two drinks in, another on the way. Yung Mars comes on, crooning hilariously juvenile inanities about champagne and Puerto Rico. Are you dancing? Have you started a light two-step while scrolling through Instagram on your phone? Is this a song you will be able to listen to at every event you go to this summer without wanting to steal the aux cord to put on anything else? The real beauty is that this works as well during the day as it does at night, but it’s probably best suited for the half hour before you leave the house while waiting for your hair to dry—a private karaoke performance for one. —Megan Reynolds
Kygo feat. Selena Gomez, “It Ain’t Me”
Every breakup track should aspire to be this bouncy and airy, every Bieber ex this untroubled. Gomez’s relaxed epiphany about her failed relationship (“Who’s gonna walk you through the dark side of the morning? It ain’t me”) is the perfect carefree anthem for a summer in which we’re all enduring a post-inauguration hangover that may never actually dissipate. It’s nice to remember, however briefly, what easy indifference feels like. —Emma CarmichaelLady Gaga, “The Cure”
This is so predictable, but I’m going with “The Cure,” a song that opens with a sweet cycle of screaming echoes that continue throughout (Gaga is the witch and the screams are Hansel and Gretel). Gaga sings cozily before everything swells into a Jepsenian chorus burst: “I’ll fix you with my love/ And if you say you’re okay, I’m gonna heal you anyway!” This feels like an anthem that pairs well with fireworks and makes you feel positive. It’s made to be listened to everywhere you’ll ever be this summer. –Clover HopeJ Hus, “Did You See”
A British 20-year-old whose thrilling 2015 summer jam “Dem Boy Paigon” inspired massive joyous teen singalongs in neighborhoods all over London, J Hus’s major-label debut, released just last week on Epic, exemplifies his multivalent style: Afrobeats, grime, dancehall, pop, and a youthful elasticity and sense of humor that makes him one of the most relevant “new” artists out. “Did You See” is one of his sneaker-sounding songs, its low-key slink eyeing your heart and probably snagging it sometime around June (if you’re Stateside, anyhow; pretty sure England is already on one). The best part about this is his funny honesty—“I’d be a genius if I didn’t think with my penis”; “They never seen such a skinny man in a big puffer jacket”—which belies a pure, low-key giddiness at his own audacity. Which is just about exactly how I wanna feel come 89 degrees. —Julianne Escobedo Shepherd-
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