Summer is a time when everyone is releasing music and I am so here for it! So many of my favorite artists have put out albums or have them on the way. As work and grad school stuff starts compounding my anxiety is bound to increase so I’m happy it’s lining up with the boom of new songs. I’ll be updating this playlist every month or so and sharing why I love these songs/artists and I’d love to hear what music you are connecting with as well!

Songs I’m Loving at the Moment

Here are ten songs that I have fixated on lately. Definitely check out these songs and check out the other songs from these artists as well!

#1 Miracle/Little Bird by the Jonas Brothers: This is one of the new albums I was referring to in the intro and boy did they deliver summer bop after summer bop on The Album! I cannot just pick one song so I picked the two that have me the most in a chokehold but for different reasons. Miracle is an incredible, upbeat, opening track that sets the tone for the album and really shows what this new sound they created with Jon Bellion is going to be. On the other hand, Little Bird makes me emotional every time I listen to it and is more emotionally, and lyrically in-depth than the rest of their album. This will be everyone’s father-daughter dance at their wedding (including mine!) and there will not be a dry eye in the house.

#2 Curtains/End of Youth by Ed Sheeran: Ed’s newest album Subtract (-) is the second album I have been fixating on! My brother and I watched the visual album together and I highly suggest you do the same to get the full experience. There are simply too many songs I love, especially as someone who has experienced grief, but these two are my favorites at the moment. Both look at the concept of how grief changes you in different ways. One reflects on how it matures you immediately and the other about how it is something you have to work to move past inch by inch, even if that means just letting a little light back in the room. This is probably his most emotional album and I know it has been divisive, but I personally think it’s incredible. I think watching his documentary on Disney Plus helps you understand this album better as well, but be warned that you will need tissues as my roommate and I were a weeping mess on the couch when we started it last weekend.

#3 God Plays a Gibson/Mustang or Me by Megan Moroney: Okay, last time I cheat and pick two songs for one artist, but Megan’s new album Lucky also just has too many incredible songs to choose from. I had been anticipating Jonas Brothers and Ed Sheeran, but this album came out of nowhere. I had actually heard of Megan because I saw a video of her performing her song called Hair Salon (also amazing) at a songwriter’s night in Nashville, but I didn’t know she had released this project until my friend texted the group chat saying we all had to listen to it immediately. She is everything I love about country music. Catchy songs, storytelling, and lyrics filled with play on words. A perfect album to drive to or listen to on a rainy day. Both of these songs are some of my favorite lyrically and conceptually, but I really don’t think this album has a skip. One of my new favorite artists for sure!

#4 What Am I Missing by The Band CAMINO: I have seen them live four times and they are definitely one of my top two favorite current bands and this song is just quintessentially them. Upbeat and catchy! Looking forward to hearing their whole album and going to see them live once again.

#5 Changes by Joy Oladokun: I’ve really gotten into this local Nashvillian’s music this past year and her sound is so unique to her. She’s an incredible lyricist and this song really coincided with some life changes in my life and in the world and has been one from the album I listen to most. Go listen to all her music!

#6 Bad Blood by Trousdale: If you love groups with harmonies that will give you chills, this is the group for you! I love the sound these three women create and this song is just so catchy! I could have it on repeat and genuinely never get tired of it.

#7 Dancing in the Courthouse by Dominic Fike: His tone is so unique that a song by him could play in the background anywhere and I would instantly know who it was. He hadn’t released music in a minute and this was a great song to come back with!

#8 Someone You Once Had by ROSIE: This is from an artist that I found and fell in love with a couple of years ago and she is so consistent in terms of lyricism. She also loves writing sad bops which we know is one of my favorite things and this song doesn’t disappoint!

#9 The Feels by Labrinth (feat. Zendaya): I always love Labrinth’s production and this song has that atmospheric, ethereal, echoey sound I love from him while being really interesting lyrically as well. Plus any song that gets Zendaya back in the studio is a win!

#10: Favorite Kind of High by Kelly Clarkson: This one is brand new from this past Friday but oh man it is so good! Her first two singles were also incredible and I will be unwell when her whole album comes out, but this song is so catchy and so impressive vocally! If you were worried her album about the divorce was going to be more melancholy, this song disproves it. And please watch her sing this live here because she is just ridiculously talented!

Honorable mentions:

I’ve put all the songs mentioned in this post in my Pasted on Smiles playlist on Spotify so be sure to check it out! Let me know what you’ve been listening to. I’m always looking for new songs to fixate on for a while!

Rachel (: