Our Songs of Summer playlist feat. Charli XCX, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, the Rolling Stones, and Kurt Vile

This is the sun-baked time for irresistible hooks and big brash beats. This is the season when pop culture experts aim to pronounce that just one ubiquitous recording is this year’s unifying, definitive Song of the Summer.

Read more 🎧 Our summer ’26 playlist | Morning Newsletter

I’m not going to play that game — or not exactly, anyway. The 30 songs annotated here are all songs of the summer of 2026, many of them by big name artists and rising stars formidable enough to be widely considered on most Song of the Summer short lists.

But the songs gathered here — by pop stars, singer-songwriters, hip-hop heroes, country singers, and indie rock bands — are not ranked. Instead, they’re arranged as a playlist of sometimes ebullient, sometimes bummed out tunes that aim to convey a wide range of what the summer of 2026 sounds like, with plenty of Philly artists worked into the mix.

Put on your headphones.

“Spring Summer ’26,” Charli XCX sings, sounding cheerful setting the mise-en-scène for her new album Music, Fashion, Film. “When the world is gonna end, no hope for any of it.” Rather than a BRAT summer — that was 2024 — this is a reinvention song for a season of disaffection. She opens her U.S. tour in Philly on Sept. 11.

For such a pop juggernaut, the charms of “Choosin’ Texas” are surprisingly subtle considering how big the song has become. The traditional country-leaning Lone Star State singer’s single, about a spurned lover drinking Jack Daniels alone, has topped the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart for 17 weeks, the longest winning streak by a woman artist ever for a nonholiday song.

Summer school is in session on Confessions II with Madonna proclaiming she’s hungry to learn as well as teach. Her impressive sequel to her 2005 album Confessions On A Dance Floor returns to her comfort zone with producer Stuart Price.

Beyoncé also wants to go back to school, “and have my locker full of pictures of you,” she sings on a track whose origin dates to 2013. But the song was not officially released until July 4. It’s also old-school and sultry in an R&B sense, with a remix that features a Jay-Z guest verse.

British pop-soul singer Olivia Dean’s The Art of Loving came out in 2025, but her ascendance in America is ongoing. This bossa nova is a cool, welcome summer breeze that brings to mind Astrud Gilberto.

Perhaps the catchiest earworm yet from Adam Weiner’s South Philly rock and soul party and protest band. “Gettin’ naked in the afternoon, or maybe later underneath the moon … Oh, baby, you know it can’t be wrong.” Can it?

“Dreams and Nightmares,” the 2012 rager that has become an unofficial Philly anthem, gets a sequel, with a cameo from Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro in the video. Not equal to the original, but not bad.

Stella Lefty’s country hit makes the cut despite its title. And who can be mad at Boston after they traded Jaylen Brown to the Sixers to pave the way for LeBron James? But seriously, this song by Lefty, the daughter of billionaire Eric Lefkofsky, interpolates Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” and is seriously catchy.

This Toy Story 5 song’s arrangement, by Swift and Jack Antonoff includes banjo and mandolin, and has been characterized as country. Which means that between Swift, Lefty, Langley, and Morgan Wallen, last week’s Top 5 songs on the Billboard charts were all country for the first time.

Antonoff is also involved with this single about Peter Pan syndrome from Bridgers’ forthcoming album Lost Weekend, due Aug. 14. Philly indie savant Alex G. coproduces and boygenius’ Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker sing backup.

This nugget from the Philly jangle pop band’s Mavis Sing Mavis is not a Neil Young cover but a song for music lovers. “Tonight’s the night,” Frank Brown sings, “I’m going to see my favorite band.”

The Cure is one of Olivia Rodrigo’s favorite bands. This single from You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love is not about Robert Smith, however. It’s a gem about a guy who will never be “the cure.” Rodrigo plays Xfinity Mobile Arena on Nov. 7 and 8.

It’s hard to choose among Hurry songs, because Philly songwriter and guitarist Matthew Scottoline’s tunes all tend to captivate with melodic grace and wistful vibes. This one includes a cameo from Teenage Fanclub’s Gerard Love.

Speaking of wistful, Macca looks back fondly on his pre-Beatles Liverpool boyhood on this charming centerpiece on The Boys of Dungeon Lane.

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This song from the coleader of Philadelphia rock institution the Hooters is part of the “Philly Anthems” project of WXPN-FM (88.5). The sturdy tune strikes a hopeful note, with a hint of desperation: “Better times better come soon.”

Gnarly, country-flavored New Orleans garage rock band Twisted Teens look for meaning beyond “a hundred beers of solitude” in this winning title track from their new album.

On last year’s Sweet Enough, Philly folk-pop sibling band Sam and Louise Sullivan sang of “Jealousy & Envy.” They’re on the lookout for nicer things on the title track to their new album.

Texas country singers Musgraves and Lambert had a beef dating back to 2011, when Lambert beat Musgraves to recording her own “Mama’s Broken Heart.” Now, the two horsewomen have made up, bonding over shared life experiences.

An original song from the country jam band multi-instrumentalist that tells a fictional tale about his real hometown of Muir, Mich. From So Much For Goodbyes, due Aug. 28.

“Got a jones for you, sweet tooth, like sugar in my apple juice.” North Carolina rapper Rapsody goes deliciously neo-soul on this single from God Gotta Afro & Gold Hoops, due Aug. 28.

A peppy, percolating team up of South African singer Tyla and Swedish pop star Larsson, drawing inspiration from early 2000s Britney Spears.

French Congolese singer Theodora — also known as Boss Lady — mixes Afro-pop and electronic elements with a verve that transcends language barriers.

Argentine experimental pop duo Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso’s collaborators on the Free Spirits album include Jack Black and Sting. On this exuberant track they mix in R&B and funk with beat savvy songwriter .Paak.

With Charli XCX getting self-reflective this summer, Slayyter is picking up the in-your-face electro-pop slack. TikTok aided this screamy song’s success with clips of graduates yelling “Crank It!” upon receiving their diplomas.

Yes, Kevin Parker of Tame Impala’s vampiric concoction is lightweight stuff. But isn’t that what summer is for? And K-pop sensation Jennie boosts its exuberant groove.

With the Wicked star announcing that she’s pulling back from public life, many observers are convinced that this single is about her fans and the prison of fame. Perhaps. In any case, its chilly tone and refusal to serve up a happy ending make for compelling listening.

The internet guitarist struggled to find an audience for his genre-splicing music before “Bad Habit” from his 2022 album Gemini Rights. He’s back in top form with this woozy song from his return album Oh Yeah?

Power pop fun from the side project of Alex Edkins of Canadian punk-pop band Metz that doesn’t waste a note, at just over 2 minutes.

Is Foreign Tongues, the new Rolling Stones album, their best since … 1986’s Dirty Work? 1981’s Tattoo You? Whatever Stones fans decide, there’s no denying the octogenarians’ sound has energized, particularly on this feisty opener.

The grabby single on Vile’s new 215 proud Philadelphia’s Been Good To Me is the hyped up “Chance To Bleed.” This second single, however, is more quintessential KV. It’s a song for a lazy summer afternoon, riding a lovably, languorous groove, as zigzagging his way down Lincoln Drive makes Vile “feel I can fly — for a while.”

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