Music for When Summer Starts to Feel Real

There’s something about music at the start of summer that makes everything feel lighter, as if the longer days and warmer evenings come with their own soundtrack.

Below I have curated a list of albums to put on when you no longer have to dread opening the

weather app- when the forecast finally starts working in everyone’s favour, and for when it’s still

light at 8pm and plans become more spontaneous.

These are the albums I would select to soundtrack that shift from heavy evenings in to long stretched out days: the first drive with the windows down and for when assignment deadlines are ancient history.

This playlist might feel a bit premature, but personally my “Summertime” playlist has had its first shuffle already!

Solar Power - Lorde

Album Song pick: “Secrets from a Girl (Who’s Seen it All)”

Solar Power feels like easing into summer rather than diving straight into it. It’s warm, stripped-back, and completely unbothered—perfect for those slower moments where you’re just

starting to feel the change in the air.

This album is heavily inspired by Lorde’s homeland of New Zealand (which just so happens to be my favourite country ever), as she aims to capture the country’s soft buzz and nature-focus.

This album accompanies Te Ao Mārama EP (sung in Māori) explore kaitiakitanga- the Māori

concept of guardianship of the land.

Currents - Tame Impala

Album Song pick: “Let it Happen”

Currents is a hazy, slightly warming album. It represents a perfect transition between day and

night. There’s something about it that makes even the most ordinary evening feel a bit more surreal.

Just the album cover alone I think should sell this album as the most immersive and expansive

experience. The lyrical themes of Currents centre on personal transition and growing older: Kevin Parker's lyrics on the album are entirely autobiographical.

“Let it Happen” is a message I need to hear so much that I should get it tattooed; the song is a

perfect reminder to embrace change, surrender control and accept life’s inevitable chaos, rather

than trying to fight it.

When We Were Friends - The Backseat Lovers

Album Song pick: “Kilby Girl”

When We Were Friends feels made for last-minute plans and summer evening drives. There’s a restless, spontaneous energy running through it, paired with a kind of romanticised nostalgia

that makes everything feel slightly more significant than it probably is. The band move between indie-folk and indie-rock, but manage to keep that sense of motion throughout, never quite settling.

As their debut album, it carries that unmistakable first-week-of-summer feeling: everything still

new, still unfolding, and just a little unpredictable. It never loses that youthful urgency, that sense

that something could happen at any moment.

Is This It - The Strokes

Album Song pick: “Someday”

Is this It, is my pick for an effortlessly cool start to your summer. It is a confident, bold album, but

timeless, as The Strokes’ debut studio album. It harks back to 2001 and still deserves the same

widespread acclaim as it received 25 years ago.

I think this album sits best in the middle of a summer afternoon, perhaps when the first BBQ is

on the cards, or plans for the pub garden are making their way out of the group chat.

The album song pick, “Someday”, is my personal favourite, because I think it captures a feeling

of being in the moment while simultaneously realising it will be missed in the future: that

bittersweet summer feeling.

Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.- Harry Styles

Album Song pick: “Taste Back”

Kiss all the time. Disco occasionally, couldn’t have been released at a better time. It has been

described as his most exploratory album so far, and ranges from soft and intimate songs such

as “Coming Up Roses,” and “Paint by Numbers,” to fun upbeat songs like “Pop”.

This feels like an album you could listen the whole way through and stay entertained for the

whole 45 mins. I would queue this album up on days with M&S picky bits in the park with a

speaker in the background. It’s an album best listened to with a group of your closest friends

on a warm day!

Romance - Fontaines D.C

Album Song pick: “Favourite”

Romance is Fontaines D.C’s fourth studio album, and was released August 2024. As an album,

it feels like the moment summer tips into night; when the day has worn off but it’s not quite dusk.

For me, this is already a nostalgic album, and reminds me of summer 2025, where I had the

best summer to date. It was a fan favourite within my group of friends, and we obviously shared

the national consensus, with it winning the Album Award at the Rolling Stone UK Awards.

It feels like a modern classic, with its blend of Irish and Indie Rock; just the opening of the album song pick “Favourite”, is enough to send me back a year.

There’s something slightly restless running through the album, though: an edge that sets it apart from the rest of this list. It’s the soundtrack to those later hours, when plans have blurred and

you’re just following the momentum of the evening.

It’s enough of a challenge to pick just a few albums and my “Summertime” playlist has the

biggest range, so here are some honourable mentions for curating that perfect shuffle of your

sunshine playlist:

● “Scar Tissue”- Red Hot Chili Peppers

● “Real Love Baby”- Father John Misty

● “Everywhere”- Fleetwood Mac

● “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”- Tears for Fears

● “Can I Call You Tonight?”- Dayglow

● “Beaches”- Beabadoobee

● “I’ve Seen It”- Olivia Dean

● “Sister Golden Hair”- America

● “Seabird”- Innovations

● “Upside Down”- Jack Johnson

Written by, Sophie Robinson