Summer 2025 is still in its early days, but it's starting to look like this isn't going to be another Brat Summer. By this time last year, Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan were all vying for pop domination, and a diss track accusing Drake of being a pedophile was blaring out of every passing car. It was a year of gigantic, zeitgeist-defining moments.
But 2025 is shaping up to be a little harder to pin down. As the season kicks into high gear, Exclaim! staffers are picking our songs of the summer — whether that's the culture at large, or simply our own playlists.
See our picks below, and revisit our mid-year list of 2025's best albums so far here.
Alex G
"Afterlife"
(RCA Records)
Urgent and nostalgic, Alex G's "Afterlife" is the kind of song that you can lose time to. Bright mandolin paired with the shouting cadence of his voice creates an abject absurdity that is both ecstatic and mournful. As a songwriter, Alex G always straddles the line between cinematic profundity and natural coolness, which is exactly how summer should feel.
Allie Gregory
Olivia Dean
"Nice to Each Other"
(Universal Music)
"I don't want a boyfriend," layers of Olivia Dean's caramel-coated voice echo resolutely as the rest of the instrumentation falls to the wayside at the end of the second verse, "but we could be nice to each other." It's a heavy time in general, and the situationship-dominated world of dating — chill and fun until it becomes emotionally volatile for at least one party — is no exception. This stylish, breezy first taste of the British artist's upcoming sophomore album acknowledges the heft while feeling light as air.
Megan LaPierre
PinkPantheress
"Tonight"
(Warner Records)
Though "Illegal" is emerging as the TikTok favourite of the endlessly replayable Fancy That mixtape, there's a case for its first single to be the true song of the summer. It bounces with the ease PinkPantheress yearns for, as she waits for confirmation that the desire is mutual. As effortless as her delivery may be in the chorus, the verses reveal her obsession. It's all the more fitting that she nods to her teen heroes with a Panic! at the Disco sample at the beginning, before letting sheer horniness take over for those who want a second hedonistic warm season.
Sydney Brasil
Turnstile
"I CARE"
(Roadrunner Records)
The arrival of Turnstile's fourth record, NEVER ENOUGH, in June felt like the perfect way to kick off the summer season, and "I CARE" fully embraces the band's pop and new wave experimentations with the streamlined confidence befitting of a song of the summer. The track's first-pumping chorus, bubbling synths and shimmering guitar licks evoke an infectious playfulness that is impossible to put down, even after one, two, three listens — but what is sweetest of all is the simple sincerity of the lyrics as vocalist Brandon Yates promises, "All because you know I care."
Karlie Rogers
Wednesday
"Elderberry Wine"
(Dead Oceans)
The aching alt-country of "Elderberry Wine" evokes the exhausted, humid haze of a sweltering summer afternoon. The threat of disaster lurks in every one of vocalist Karly Hartzman's vividly drawn lines: a jar of possibly spoiled eggs, a funfair ride that isn't bolted down properly, an electric car that barely makes a sound as it approaches, and eyes hued with "the green of tornado sky." For those a little too invested in Wednesday lore, the fact that Hartzman's ex-boyfriend MJ Lenderman lends lead guitar twang and chorus harmonies adds to the poignancy of approaching calamity.
Alex Hudson