New summer classics playlist: 15 artists pick sunshine tracks

Nia Archives

The DJ, producer and singer-songwriter is a rising star of UK jungle and drum’n’bass. Her debut album, Silence Is Loud, is nominated for the 2024 Mercury prize. She tours from 30 October

Perfume by The Dare (2024)

This song came out recently – I heard it two weeks ago and loved the vibe. I really liked the Dare’s big tune Girls last year. Perfume is really cool: it’s New York indie sleaze vibes, sort of retro. It’s a good song to listen to when you’re getting ready, or when you’re going from A to B, maybe on the way to the pub. Wherever, really. I just have it on loop at the moment. Some songs are definitely more suited to listening to in the sunshine, and some songs you need to listen to in the rain. My favourite thing about summer is the festivals. It’s been quite an intense one this year, but I do love it. I’m on the road a lot so it’s nice to travel, explore new places, taste new foods, and chase the sunshine, because we didn’t really get any here this year.

Joe Goddard

Co-founder of electronic record label Greco-Roman and member of Hot Chip; his third solo album, Harmonics, is out now on Domino. He tours from 16 August

Cactus Water by Channel Tres (2024)

This record is very new and I have been listening to it a lot recently. Channel Tres has been around for a few years now, releasing great stuff. I saw him live a while back in Australia, it was an incredible show. What I think is really great about it is he comes from a hip-hop world – I came across him through his work with Tyler, the Creator and people like that – and he’s moved into this space which is very Prince-like. It’s a little bit house and grimy disco and he’s really smashing it, particularly with this new one. To me, it feels like a summer record. It’s the kind of music you want to listen to driving down the PCH [Pacific Coast Highway]. It’s very much made for hot weather and late nights: it’s laid back, the mix is incredible, and it makes me want to be outside drinking cocktails.

James Smith (Yard Act)

The Mercury-nominated Leeds post-punk outfit put out their second album, Where’s My Utopia?, earlier this year. They are currently on tour across the UK and Europe

Hunnybee by Unknown Mortal Orchestra (2018)

I do love the sunshine. I think the rays give us a much needed boost of serotonin in this country. This track came out in 2018, before Yard Act had started and I was DJing a lot around Leeds – I’d moved away from doing late nights and club nights, and I was doing afternoon, early-evening slots around bars and on terraces. There was a place called Headrow House, and friends working in the city would come and have a drink and hang out while I was DJing. It felt like a simpler time, very carefree. This track reminds me of that summer specifically: it’s a downtempo, throwback disco soul tune. I love Unknown Mortal Orchestra. He taps into hedonism very well, but with a real sense of melancholy that penetrates through it. I read through the lyrics yesterday, and I didn’t realise how scathing it was – “As sweeter a sting”. Apparently he wrote it for his daughter. But it’s bittersweet: it’s euphoric and uplifting but there’s also that warning about the dangers of the world. I think we should always have those at the back of our mind when we’re sipping an ice-cold beer in the sun.

Arlo Parks

The London singer-songwriter won the Mercury prize for her debut album in 2021, along with Grammy and Brit award nominations. Earlier this year, she had writing credits on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter

Fleshless Hand by ML Buch (2023)

The songs I listen to in the summer always have this bittersweetness and this eeriness, which gives a fuller, richer experience when you’re lying in the sun. There’s something really emotional about this song, in a way that’s quite complicated. ML Buch is an artist from Denmark – I was reading about her process, and she records a lot of her vocals in the car and in motion. I’ve always gravitated to a more DIY sensibility when it comes to music, that shoegazey indie space, especially in the summer, because that’s a time of year when I feel really inspired. My favourite line is the opening: “The sun starts a fire / Sun starts a fire across the sky.” Linking that to the blazing heat of summer is really beautiful. There’s something dreamy about this song – otherworldly almost. I do think music sounds better in summer. There’s a sense of hope that envelops the city when it’s hot. And music is most beautiful when it is shared – I think that’s why music in the summer just hits different.

Beabadoobee

London singer-songwriter Beatrice Laus releases her Rick Rubin-produced third studio album, This Is How Tomorrow Moves, on 16 August via Dirty Hit

Are You the One by Basement (2019)

I discovered this recently. A band called Title Fight have been on my summer playlist a lot, and one of the related artists Spotify showed was Basement. They’re an awesome band. I love the chorus – it’s a melody I wish I’d come up with. I like it when a band has the sweetest, most romantic lyrics, and they’re screaming them over a raging guitar. I love the lyrics: “Cos I’ve been waiting / Waiting for the end / Maybe we could be / Sweet eternity / Are you the one?” It’s a cool song for summer. It’s giving “road trip song” – it feels like you should be driving and listening to this. The chords are so open and it feels so freeing. What I love most about the summer is when it’s actually sunny in London. When Brits see sun, they’re like: “Oh my God, we have to take every opportunity to soak up this little amount of sun.”

Lias Saoudi (Fat White Family)

The south London band put out their fourth album, Forgiveness Is Yours, earlier this year on Domino. Saoudi is also a member of the groups Moonlandingz and Decius

Combustion by Pregoblin (2019)

The opening line is tough when you’re writing lyrics, but this one’s great: “I’ll wear a watch on each wrist so I cannot be missed.” You’re that obsessed with the time of day, but what are you waiting for that’s so important? It turns out: good times! I also love the notion of wanting to just spontaneously combust. You don’t really hear about spontaneous combustion any more. The idea used to make me really anxious as a kid. This song sounds like summer: good times at the highest possible cost. You can sustain that in the summer because there’s all this regenerative energy and vitamin D, so you can push it slightly further. You can go up in flames if you want, and maybe you’ll be all right by next week. Other than Christmas tunes, I think pretty much everything sounds better at this time of year. I’d say the ideal scenario for this song would be sunbathing, maybe in the Maghreb, Morocco or Algeria, with the aroma of someone else’s sausages carrying over gently on the breeze.

Nabihah Iqbal

The west London DJ, broadcaster and alternative and electronic musician plays Green Man in the Brecon Beacons on 17 August. Her second album, Dreamer, is out now

Kerosene! by Yves Tumor (2020)

When this came out I remember being blown away by the whole arrangement of it, but also the music video was just so cool. It’s got a summery feel as they’re driving in a convertible, blasting out music. It’s a track you want to play out loud, in the car or just hanging out. It was different from everything they’d put out before. I listen to it on repeat. It’s got really good guitar solos and I love the duet with Diana Gordon. The sound palette is euphoric, which people associate with summer: it just makes you feel good. Anyone who’s into music can identify with this idea of songs that evoke a specific time and place. Maybe you think back to a summer when you were at school or uni and the feelings associated with it. It’s something I think about when I make my own music. I’m inspired by the feeling of summer.

Jordan Rakei

Born in New Zealand and based in London, the jazz and soul-adjacent singer and musician’s fifth album, The Loop, is out now. He plays the Edinburgh festival on 8 August

Think About It by Sault (2019)

I first heard this only a couple of years ago: it was playing on a radio show, and it clung to me straight away. It feels classic and nostalgic, but at the same time fresh. In a time where music is so digital, it’s nice to hear live instruments. It’s loose, old-school soul, a bit of funk, a bit of Afrobeat. This is a great tune for the summer because it’s not abrasive: it’s just such a vibe. But at the same time, if you go for a stroll with your headphones, it’s so detailed in its production. Relaxed but detailed: the perfect blend. The ideal scenario for this song would be, you’re lying near a picnic with your dogs next to you and you’re blasting it out of your little portable speaker, looking up into the blue sky. Being an antipodean, I love how much Europeans love the summer: you’re walking around and people are just buzzing. It’s quite inspiring, because we take it for granted – growing up in Australia, it’s always good weather.

Lola Young

The Brit rising star-nominated Croydon pop star released her second album, This Wasn’t Meant for You Anyway, earlier this year. She plays All Points East, London on 17 August

Good Luck, Babe! by Chappell Roan (2024)

I love Chappell Roan . This feels like summer as it’s uplifting, but it’s still got that sad feeling I really love in a song. I presume, although you can’t tell from listening, that she’s talking about another woman: “You can kiss a hundred boys in bars.” It’s saying you can go and do whatever you want and pretend to be this person, but really we all know you’re hiding and not being true to yourself. The end lyric, “You’d have to stop the world just to stop the feeling” – it’s saying the whole universe would need to stop before this woman stops feeling this way about Chappell Roan. I first heard it on the radio in an Uber, and it was really striking – it reminded me of Kate Bush and Lady Gaga. It’s a song for a train ride home, or for getting ready in the morning, but really it’s one for lying on a beach with a sangria in your hand.

Kelly Lee Owens

Welsh producer, DJ and songwriter whose fourth album, Dreamstate, will be released on 18 October via new dance label dh2. She DJs at All Points East on 18 August

Glue by Bicep (2017)

Whether it’s live or in a DJ set, this song just gets one of the best reactions I have ever seen. I think that’s to do with the samples they’ve used and the simplicity of it. Summer for me is about dancing and being uplifted and that’s what Bicep does with this track. From the first chord, it’s so distinct: it’s super uplifting, but there is also something melancholic about it. It’s emotive and euphoric at the same time. I’ve just come back from Ibiza, and I heard it being blasted out several times on the island and I’ve seen so many videos of people dancing to it. With its big sunshine energy, it’s one for a big group of friends gathered together experiencing a beautiful moment. People get the best out of each other in the summer and everyone’s spirits are lifted.

Artemas

Artemas Diamandis is a London-based British-Cypriot singer, songwriter and producer. Two of his self-released tracks went viral in the past year, and his latest single, So Stunning, is out now

Slide by Calvin Harris ft Frank Ocean and Migos (2017)

I first heard this on New Music Friday. It was quite a big song at the time, but not a smash hit. It’s just such a feel-good track: the synths and the groovy basses, and Frank’s voice is like butter on it. It’s the last time he’s done something that’s overtly pop and he just does it so effortlessly. Some songs do make you instantly think of the beach and swimming pools – it made me feel like California before I’d even been here. It’s easy for upbeat summer songs to feel a bit cheesy sometimes – I think the trick is to make it also feel quite cool and tasteful. I love summer – everyone’s more at ease and you feel less guilty when you’re having a good time, you feel the pressure of life less. I don’t think the song works in the same way when it’s not summer. I always have to be in a good mood when I put it on.

Lava La Rue

Part of DIY art collective NiNE8, the west London artist released their debut album, Starface – a sci-fi concept record – on Dirty Hit earlier this year. They tour from 30 October

Dancer by Idles ft LCD Soundsystem (2023)

I first heard Idles play this track during an intimate show at Village Underground, in the lead-up to the Tangk album release. It’s definitely a post-punk song in all the textures and instruments that are used, though the formula also references dance music. I like the chorus, and the lyrics – “I give myself to you / As long as you move” – for me, represent the feeling of giving your full body to dance. That feeling is very much needed right now, and it’s why we’re experiencing this dance music and rap renaissance post-pandemic. The ideal scenario for the song is: you’re on the tube on the way to meet your mates, and you’re all going to a London day festival, followed by a working men’s club to play pool and do karaoke. You’ve got a red Perry shirt on, some shorts, and low-top DMs. It’s an obvious one, but what I love about summer is that the sun sets so late. It makes you feel like you’re in one of those movies where everything takes place in one night. It’s the most amazing feeling.

Kai Campos (Mount Kimbie)

London rock and electronic group whose fourth album, The Sunset Violent, is out now on Warp. The y play We Out Here in Dorset on 15 August and Green Man on 16 August

Plushy by 1-800-Mikey (2022)

I was trawling through somebody’s collection on Bandcamp when I found this record, by an Australian kid from Sydney called 1-800-Mikey. It’s got a very pleasant DIY sound: it has a little drum part at the beginning, and then the song only lasts about a minute and a half. It’s very straight-ahead pop-garage rock, quite influenced by people like Daniel Johnston and Jay Reatard. It’s really enjoyable, quite juvenile music – it’s not big and clever, but the songwriting is pretty classic and good enough that it stands on its own two feet. In the chorus he just sings “plu-shy” – it’s direct and exciting and all about the delivery. You have to be under a certain age to be able to pull off making this kind of thing. The thing I like most about the summer is sitting in the garden in the evening, and this is a perfect song for that. With summer music, it’s about finding something that’s going to create an easy atmosphere for people to be in. This is very poppy, so I’d get fewer complaints than about the stuff I might be listening to by myself.

Ella Eyre

Brit award-winning singer-songwriter Ella Eyre’s single Domino Szn is out now, marking her third as an independent artist

Adaugo by The Cavemen , 2022

This song is so healing for me. I first heard it when I was in Ghana earlier this year, visiting my best friend who had just moved out there. She was turning 30, and a group of us went out. I had been really missing her, I was going through quite a transitional period in my life and it was just the trip I needed. It was about 4am, we were hosting a party in our beach villa and it was chaos; lots of fun, lots of people, and it was at the point where things were starting to die down and everyone was chilling. You could hear the waves crashing on the shore, people talking… And then this song came on and it cut through. It lifts your spirits, it’s such a beautiful, weightless kind of song. I feel like it creates a world around you. There are definitely songs that sound better in the summer, but this one gives you a sunny, light feeling whenever you hear it; just a bit mroe when the sun is out.

Lady Blackbird

Singer-songwriter Marley Munroe, once dubbed the “Grace Jones of jazz” by Gilles Peterson, has a second album, Slang Spirituals, out on 13 September on BMG. She joins Moby on tour from 18 September

Stay High by Brittany Howard (2019)

I’ve been such a fan of hers from the Alabama Shakes days, with Boys & Girls , and then this album, Jaime , came out – I had it on repeat. I love the soul and passion and grit she sings with. The album is psychedelic soul, but she does it in her own way. Stay High just really makes me feel happy. You want to take the top off the convertible and feel the wind in your hair. You feel free. I love the hook: “I just want to stay high with you.” It sounds like a great spot to stay: a peaceful, chill, fun, elevated state. I think more melancholy songs sound better in the winter, in the cold, but summer jams – they’re happy, they’re alive. Different songs for different seasons, I would say. What do I love most about the summer? Picnics and barbecues and pool days. All the fun stuff – margaritas by the pool.