Let these tracks be your guide for all the summer feelings: grilling, chilling, vibing, biking, big feelings, small moments. This music feels fuzzy around the edges, like spinning in circles with your eyes closed, the light just sneaking in the corners.
TWEAKS – “Hills Have Eyes” – Move San, Let’s Gate – 2023
TWEAKS is a Swiss-Army-knife artist.
After joining a music production Zoom class during COVID lockdown, TWEAKS, aka DJ MENACE began creating daily pieces of short music, which eventually built into his 2020 debut album Videl. This first album set the tone: TWEAKS’ music is full of layered swells, beeps and glitches. It goes wherever he wants it to. His third album, Move San, Let’s Gate, maintains the ambient backbone of previous releases. In particular, “Hills Have Eyes” approaches R&B and dance, but with floaty vocals and deep swells, it successfully remains somewhere more interesting; right in between.
Little Simz – “Only” – Lotus – 2025
The prolific Little Simz, a.k.a. Simbiatu “Simbi” Abisola Abiola Ajikawo, brings tunes from the murky depths with her sixth studio album, Lotus. Already boasting an incredible body of work, Lotus serves to illustrate a chapter of reckoning and release in Simz’s life.
Before Lotus came Mercury Prize-winning Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, a string of singles and the heavy-hitting Drop 7. But behind the scenes of these prolific releases was a betrayal by a former friend and colleague, leading to an intense legal battle. The crisis of confidence was so intense Simz nearly quit music, but instead, she put it all in the album. “Only” is bouncy, bright with bars framed by Lydia Kittos’ vocals. Simz, we’re glad you’re back.
Cocteau Twins – “Pitch the Baby” – Heaven or Las Vegas – 1990
Heaven or Las Vegas (HOLV) is an album full of airy daydreams. It’s the most commercially successful album and the forever entry point into the dreamy soundscape of the Scottish rock band. It’s the album where they finally perfected their sonic thesis. With nearly indecipherable lyrics, most of its emotional depth is conjured from layers of pitched guitars. HOLV is an album about escapism. As the real lives of band members were falling apart, they created an escape. Their sound has always reminded me of post-punk pioneers Siouxsie and the Banshees or 90s Irish indie-rock sensation The Cranberries. “Pitch the Baby” has the decay and loss and grief and city grit, with a driving bassline to easily soundtrack a late-night drive or a juke-box-powered dive bar dance floor.
PinkPantheress – “Illegal” – Fancy That – 2025
If last summer was Brat, this one might be Fancy That. Doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, so instead roll your tongue around this bubblegum pop, UK garage, jungle and bassline-infused mixtape. With the perfect blend of nostalgia and pop sampling, she’s mastered the formula for musical virality. The British singer, songwriter, and record producer has consistently had music explode on Soundcloud and social media platforms, starting with 2022’s “Boy’s a Liar.” The second version featuring Ice Spice even peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
“Illegal” starts with dramatic keyboard stabs before launching into a breakbeat breakdown overlayed with Pink’s classic vocal charm. She seems to have the online formula perfected, with the album reaching new heights thanks to viral soundbites and dance challenges. Now the edits are rolling in from the likes of Nia Archives and Mura Masa, further cementing the growing icon status of PinkPantheress.
Washed Out – “You’ll See It” – Life of Leisure – 2009
“Portlandia” anyone? The American producer’s blurry “Feel It All Around” served as both the title track for the offbeat sitcom and my introduction to the nostalgic project of Ernest Greene, Washed Out. Sounds of a time past, soundtracked by Neon Indian, The XX, Toro y Moi and of course Ernest Greene himself. It wasn’t until this summer that I explored Life of Leisure in its entirety. Drawing on 1980s synth bass, the album conjures a grainy photo shot on a disposable camera 20 years ago.
The rose-colored tint of Greene’s work is best illustrated in “You’ll See It,” which sounds like a cross between 80s British band Talk Talk and their rock predecessors, The Psychedelic Furs. This track is as rich and simmering as the low summer sun.
