By Isaak Brickner
As we approach the turning of the leaves and a break from the relentless heat this summer brought us, we can turn to music as a driving force in setting the mood for any activity. These last few months have reminded music fans why they continue to turn their speakers up, with releases from countless industry heavy hitters and some newcomers shaking up our Spotify playlists. Here are three albums that keep the summer air flowing on my speaker.
“BRAT” by Charli XCX
This is an obvious choice with its huge influence on the summer, with people embodying the rebellious club-hopping attitude as their own through the BRAT summer trend, which is a middle ground of messy and chic tied together with an incredible sense of confidence in order to be vulnerable while not caring about what others may think. Vice President Kamala Harris has even embraced the album as a way to gain further popularity with Gen Z. Charli XCX's six studio album combines the style of her older infectious pop era from songs such as 2014’s “Boom Clap” with the club classics she created throughout the middle of her career. Each song has a punchy production created by a team of her peers in the music scene. Whether the song serves as a narrative of her current emotions or simply as an anthem to get people dancing, they all keep you, as Charli herself says on the single “360,” bumpin’ that.
“Charm” by Clairo
Clairo’s third studio album, “Charm,” once again combines the beginning and middle of her career as a musician to show a fully actualized version of the singer-songwriter from Maine. With the blissful, layered folk production reminiscent of her sophomore album “Sling,” alongside more lighthearted yet witty lyrics showing her need for some summer air, Claire Cottrill charms listeners into listening to every track with a careful ear. Departing from her well-known yearning for proper attention in prior projects, Claire shows that having someone to spend each day with can bring out the whimsical and childlike ideations of summer, from the mouth trumpeting on “Juna” to the detailed imaginary dates told in “Terrapin.” These wonderful features keep me replaying this album constantly and will keep me listening even throughout the fall.
“COWBOY CARTER” by Beyoncé
Although this album came out back in March, it has served as the perfect hype album through plenty of beach drives and lake visits that the summer brought. Beyoncé once again shows why she is the queen of the music industry with her eighth studio album, mixing countless styles. Country music comes to the forefront in an unfamiliar fashion for the already musically diverse artist in hopes of shining light on Black country artists from the years before. Beyoncė intertwines her R&B influences into these country songs and even shows off her rendition of the famed “Jolene” by Dolly Parton, bringing a fresh perspective to the song’s narrative. The genre-blending style has caused me to add some country music to my playlists, which had been free of it for years, and given me a new perspective on how good those twanging guitars can really sound.
If you have been pining for some good music to listen to or have just been ignoring these standout albums for the last few weeks, it is time to get on it before the temperature drops, and we all put on our favorite somber singer-songwriter to get through the winter months.
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