What’s the Song of the Summer? Here Are 22 Contenders

What is it, exactly, that makes a song worthy of song-of-the-summer status? Instant ear-worminess? A thumping, club-ready beat? A screamable chorus? Some secret fourth thing?

The criteria feel so ill-definied—and, well, silly—that we’ve gone a bit rogue here at Vogue, and simply compiled a list of songs that we can’t stop listening to this season, whatever their genre. These include, yes, singles from Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, and a lot of tracks from Brat (look, we’re only human!), but also worthy releases by The Last Dinner Party, L’Impératrice, and Hovvdy; Buscabulla, Mahmood, and Peggy Gou.

So, we invite you to kick back, relax, and crank up your speakers. Whether you’re shoring up a road-trip playlist, plotting a cookout, or just looking for something to jam to over the whirr of your air-conditioner, have we got the song (or three) for you.

“Stuck Up” by Romy Mars

Romy Mars, daughter of Sofia Coppola and Phoenix frontman Thomas Mars, released her first-ever single, “Stuck Up,” as part of a two-song EP earlier this summer. Usually, I would shy away from mentioning her famous parents, but I am tickled by the fact that the song flawlessly mixes that certain je ne sais quoi of French pop perfection (as heard in Phoenix, yes, but also Air) with a high-femme cinematic language. When “Stuck Up” begins, she is sitting at the edge of the pool, and then suddenly she is “upside down and inside out,” flailing underwater as her paramour has pulled her in (metaphorically or otherwise). It’s such a specific image—of having fun and losing control. The song feels exactly like what the sunniest summer day feels like when you are young. —Laia Garcia-Furtado

“Smalltown Boy” by Bronski Beat