Summer Songs ‘24 | It’s “Not Like Us” to Settle for a ‘BRAT’ Summer 

Summer is special. What other season gets its own song? Sure, there’s a whole industry built around Holiday music. But those tunes tend to be more of the novel variety. And, to be clear: “All I Want for Christmas is You” could never introduce an entire new lexicon or serve as the knockout punch to a once-in-a-generation hip-hop beef. Summer Songs hit different. And the competition for the song of the summer is fierce.

But what makes a summer song? The answer is unusually complicated and increasingly subjective, given the wide adoption of streaming services and our ever-more-personalized listening experiences. But there are some ground rules. Keep it light and breezy. Sonically inventive. Songs dropped before the spring shalln’t be considered. Billie Eilish writes a summer song. Leonard Cohen does not. Joni Mitchell probably could have if she tried. But Chappell Roan makes it seem effortless. 

Still, within those parameters, there’s plenty of room to spin, swerve and even bump into the guardrails. Objectively, a summer song needs to be ubiquitous – played often and everywhere. (Subjectively, these days ubiquity tends to depend on the listener.)

Although the summer is drawing to a close in most places, we’ve got a couple months yet to go here in the 904 (we’re extra special!). In an effort to recap all the truly great and memorable music of the summer of 2024, we asked the Jacksonville Music Experience team to share their picks for the songs of the summer. Dig in deep on some of our faves below and scroll to the bottom to follow our JME Summer Songs playlist on Spotify.–Matthew Shaw

Clairo – “Sexy to Someone” 

Am I the only one who has found this song’s hook — “Sexy to somebody, it would help me out / Oh, I need to a reason to get out of the house” — stuck in their cranium this summer whilst applying a thick coat of SPF 50 to their increasingly wrinkled face or rummaging through their closet before deciding on the same shorts-and-tank fit? Yes? OK. Well, to each their own. But the first single from indie heartthrob Clairo’s new album, Charm (released July 12), remains catchy-as-all-hell, and served as certain motivation for at least one person sweating through Northeast Florida’s endless summer.–MS 

Spotify | YouTube | Apple Music 

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Charli xcx – “Everything is romantic”

If only this masterpiece had dropped two days earlier, then I could’ve been listening to it “in a place that can make you change / fall in love again and again.” That place being Italy as described throughout the seventh track of Charli xcx’s viral album that dominated pop culture this summer, BRAT (released June 7). The track opens with a flourish of symphonic strings and woodwinds that flip flops into a Jersey-Shore club banger with pulsating kick drums under a refrain describing what can only be a holiday along the Tyrrhenian Sea. Whether you’re drinking Aperol spritzes by the seaside or canned hard seltzers in an inflatable pool, this song turns any setting into a party, truly a summer and club classic.–Carissa Marques 

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MJ Lenderman – “She’s Leaving You”

No matter how much sand slips through the hourglass, I still see summer as the most fleeting season, the sunny months between school years that blurred as they blew past. “She’s Leaving You,” the superlative lead single from “dudes rock” avatar MJ Lenderman’s latest, Manning Fireworks, captures the rude awakening at the end of that kind of timewarp. Like a grade-schooler realizing they have to spend their last week of freedom on a the summer reading assignment they cast aside, it occurs only too late to Lenderman’s narrator—a born loser stunned by a breakup in the middle of his Sin City midlife crisis—that the good times are already behind him, and the bill for all that fun has come due.–Scott Russell

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Xavier Omär and ELHAE – “Luv 4 U”

“Luv 4 U” is a light bop that has the singers confessing their love while explaining the effortless measures of the relationship. Producers Dylan Graham and OgThe3 set the tone with the percussion taking up all parts of the song, but keeping a vibrant energy for the guys to sing over the open pockets. Play this around 7:30 pm while it is still light outside and that soothing feeling will make it all better. The soul would appreciate this groove.–Mr. Al Pete 

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Snail Mail – “Tonight, Tonight”

I’ve always been a sucker for this Smashing Pumpkins song, and this new cover by Baltimore-bred Snail Mail is no less poignant. The ragged edges of Lindsey Erin Jordan’s vocals coalesce with a sweeping string section: a union of contrasts that feels, dare I say, Corgan-esque.–Hurley Winkler 

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Devon Again – “cherry cola” 

Maybe it’s because I fell in love with “somebody’s daughter on bass guitar,” as sung in the opening verse of this TikTok alt-pop earworm, but “cherry cola” feels quintessentially summer. You can basically smell the rain and see the electric pink and orange sunset streaked sky while listening to the upbeat chorus (“Loving you is like sipping on straight syrup, sugar, sticky soda / cover me in candy /  I’m so lucky that I get to know ya”). The song exudes a windows down, speakers loud, letting go of youthfulness. Fitting for long days and hot nights.–CM 

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Pearl & The Oysters – “Side Quest”

After meeting overseas, the LA-based synth-pop duo of Pearl & the Oysters spent a formative part of their career in Gainesville, Florida. Fitting then that P&TO’s “Side Quest” is a surrealist romp that conjures a tropical color palette, images of a heavily backlit photograph and a scooter ride down some palm-tree-flanked two-lane section of State Road A1A or the backroads of State Road 20.–MS 

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Oso Oso – “that’s what time does”

Another bummer-summer indie-rock jam with hooks for days, this standout from Jade Lilitri’s latest album as Oso Oso, last month’s life till bones, taps into that same bittersweet feeling of fun times flying. Lilitri’s ebullient vocals counterbalance his rueful lyrics, which document a relationship that’s slipping through his fingers: “And if our love is just a game we play / I think I lose a bit more every day / But hey baby, that’s what time does / That’s what the mind does.” There’s nothing more human than holding tightly to things that we know won’t last forever, but that evanescence is exactly what makes our attempts so meaningful.–SR

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Ebonique – “Neon Soul” feat. Rab G

Duval trap-soul artist Ebonique’s debut record, alterEbo, is a top contender for Best Local Album of 2024: I fell in love the moment I first listened on the day of its April release. But the best thing about falling for an album and re-listening across the seasons is recognizing songs to love that may not have stood out as much during that first listen. For me, that track on alterEbo is “Neon Soul,” a certified bop with all the trappings of a classic trap beat (see what I did there?) impressively produced by one of Ebonique’s high school students at Jacksonville Arts and Music School. Just try not to nod along when you listen. I dare you.–HW

Spotify | YouTube | Apple Music 

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Darien Brockington – “Only One”

Singer/songwriter Darien Brockington has returned to the R&B-soul world with his new album Where Love Grows. On “Only One,” Brockington illustrates love and dedication to special mate, someone significant to his well being. Soul, funk, and hip hop producers Zo! and Tall Black Guy provide the two-step vibes and Brockington’s harmonies and lyrical abilities fit perfectly with the end-of-summer feeling.–MAP 

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More Summer Songs + Spotify Playlist:

• Billie Eilish – “Lunch” 
• The Dare – “Perfume”
• Kim Deal – “Coast”
• Chappell Roan – “Good Luck, Babe!”
• Childish Gambino – “Happy Survival” feat. Khruangbin 
• Charli xcx and Billie Eilish – “Guess”
• Washed Out – “Running Away”
• Erica Reese – “Breakfast for Dinner”
• NxWorries – “FromHere” feat. Snoop Dogg & October London 
• Adrianne Lenker – “Once A Bunch” 
• MJ Lenderman – “She’s Leaving You”
• Charli xcx – “Girl, So confusing” feat. Lorde
• Lava La Rue – “Push N Shuv”
• Jeremy Ryan & Culture School – “Showtime” 
• Coyboi – “Freaking Out” 
• Dehd – “Mood Ring”
• Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
• K.UTIE – “Castle (My World)”
• The Marías – “Hamptons” 
• Suki Waterhouse – “My Fun” 
• Wishy – “Triple Seven” 
• Dummy – “Soonish…” 
• Liquid Mike – “Man Dies”
• Lunar Vacation – “Set the Stage”
• Jessica Pratt – “Life Is”
• Kamasi Washington – “Get Lit” feat. George Clinton, D Smoke