All this week, The FADER is exploring the Songs of the Summer, from massive global hits to the most exciting tracks from emerging artists. We’ve broken our list of contenders into a March Madness-style bracket, with four regionals, each representing a different type of summer song. The FADER staff will fight the tracks off against each other and come out with a winner from each regional before finally picking our ultimate Song of the Summer on Friday. Follow along wherever you listen to podcasts.
Today, we’re looking at the Touch Grass regional. This is warm weather music, the tracks that should be drifting out of Bluetooth speakers in a park at 6 p.m.
Listen to the Touch Grass episode of The FADER’s Songs of the Summer series wherever you get your podcasts, or embedded below.
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Winner: Polo Perks, Ayoolii, and FearDorian: "Rainbow"
Picking just one song of the summer from A Dog’s Chance, the funnest album of the year, wasn’t easy — the jubilant lead single “Ricky Eats Acid” was also a prime contender, as was the high-octane, M.I.A.-flipping “PaperPlanesSoulja.” Ultimately, though, what’s more summery than turning Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s ukulele-backed rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” into a no-holds-barred lowend banger? — Raphael Helfand. Read the full blog here.
Quavo and Lana Del Rey: "Tough"
When Quavo and Lana released “Tough” right before the Fourth, the duo declared a new country-trap “National Anthem” for the summer: a scuffed-boot-wearing, Highland cigar-smoking, truck-bed riding summer, that is. Lana’s proclivity for lyrically traversing America leads her to Atlanta, where Quavo embraces her, with autotuned twang. — Hannah Sung
MIKE and Tony Seltzer feat. Jay Critch: "Reminiscing"
With Pinball, MIKE asked producer Tony Seltzer to help him craft a project that stood apart from the delirious underground scripture that defined his discography. He wanted to pour out a different chamber of his heart, the one brimming with confidence and itching for a good time, and “Reminiscing” is the project’s centerpiece, full of Zaytoven melodies and bars that read like cheat codes for feeling like the life of the party anytime, anywhere. — Jordan Darville
Amaraae: "jehovah witness"
Her voice pitched up into a powerpuff ball of energy, Amaarae extends an instant of raw sexual connection into just over two minutes of hip-swaying, sweat-beading allure. “jehovah’s witness” is a mating ritual set to rave-paced Afropop, its posture hypnotic — with melodies long and curling like incense smoke — and jerky. — JD
Seiji Oda feat. Jake Chapman: "a gentle gigg..."
Another rapper might say “all gas, no brake” to mean doing 80 in a school zone but Seiji Oda comes across like he’s coasting to a stop at the traffic light. “a gentle gigg…” feels like a song you might play for a kindergarten class, or your parents who can’t stand rap music, built around a plinkingly zen Jake Chapman instrumental. A super serene smeeze indeed. — VM
Christopher Saint Booth and Phillip Adrian Booth: "Ulterior Motives"
When Christopher and Philip Booth sold “Ulterior Motives” to a porno in 1986, they didn’t know their catchy synth-pop song would spark an online search nearly four decades later. Resurfacing as a distorted clip on WatZatSong in 2021, it became known as “Everyone Knows That.” After three years, two Redditors finally solved the mystery—just in time to add the full, moan-free version to your playlist. — Sandra Song
Cindy Lee: "Kingdom Come"
Nothing hits the nostalgia centers of our brains quite like a memory of summer love, and some songs seem specifically engineered to conjure that gut-wrenching combination of joy and loss. “Kingdom Come” is a tragic tribute to a bygone friend that floats in like a beach breeze, hitting that sweet spot so hard it genuinely hurts. The track appears roughly 36 minutes into Cindy Lee’s two-hour masterpiece, Diamond Jubilee. — RH
Ravyn Lenae feat. Ty Dolla $ign: "Dream Girl"
The chords descend as if they're gently unraveling, Ravyn Lenae's voice is softer and airier than anywhere else on this career highlight of an album, and Ty Dolla $ign's guest verse is frictionlessly, gloriously Auto-Tuned... "Dream Girl" is as hazy and mellow as a summer song gets. Music for late afternoon in the long grass. — Alex Robert Ross