The songs of the summer (girlie edition)
The songs of the summer (girlie edition)
Why artists like Charli xcx, Sabrina Carpenter, and Chappell Roan topped the charts
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If you’ve heard songs like “360,” “Espresso,” and “Good Luck, Babe,” you’ll know that it’s been a summer of girlie-pop. We saw artists like Charli xcx, Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish, Katy Perry, and Kesha release new music.
The New Yorker called it the “summer of girly pop music,” and rightfully so. “The biggest hits of the summer have traded on a canny form of femininity, full of winking vernacular and knowing references,” Carrie Battan wrote.
In May, the New York Times reported that Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan were “filling a gap in pop” despite their “slow-burning careers.” Sabrina even covered one of Chappell’s songs, fulfilling Chappell’s proclamation of being “your favorite artist’s favorite artist.”
“So why now for these women — and in a year crowded with activity, no less, by veteran A-listers like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Billie Eilish?” Mikael Wood asked in The Los Angeles Times. “One top pop songwriter, granted anonymity in order to speak candidly, points out that part of what’s happening is merely a course correction for a music industry that’s been starved for new superstars.”
“Charli’s sudden ascent is just one of several we’re seeing this summer, including Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan, both of whom are putting up huge numbers after years of work in the trenches of pop music.” -Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times
Charli xcx declared it a “brat” summer, and according to Kristin Robinson for Billboard, the album “has effectively stripped away the sugar coating, laying bare the jealousy, messiness and confusion inherent to many female relationships, even if it often goes unspoken.”
Kelsey Weekman did an explainer for Yahoo! Entertainment about the pop predictions for the “song of the summer” versus the reality.
Here are the girlie pop songs I found myself listening to this summer.
1. “365” by Charli xcx
It’s hard to narrow down my favorites from this album, but “365” was definitely my most played. Not to be confused with “360,” which is quite similar. “Nobody has set this summer’s pop mood quite like Charli XCX, the prolific British singer who seems to keep one eye on social media and the other on the club dance floor at all times,” Carrie Battan wrote.
2. “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter
Starting its own chain of TikToks, “Espresso” took off as a nonsensical but catchy tune with a vintage, Sharpay Evans aesthetic. “‘Espresso’ is intoxicatingly breezy,” Shaad D’Souza wrote for The New York Times. “Carpenter employs a common pop trope — being so hot that someone can’t help but fall in love at first sight — but underplays it, making it seem as if being desired is as easy and effortless as getting a pedicure.
3. “Femininomenon” by Chappell Roan
Try to spell “Femininomenon” without looking it up, I dare you. This song exudes cool-girl-who-knows-what-she’s-worth, and while “Good Luck, Babe” was prominent in the charts, “Femininomenon” was just meant to be belted in the car on hot summer nights. “While many members of pop’s middle class share Roan’s over-the-top aesthetics, few can approximate her powerful, operatic voice, which she’s trained to uncannily recall, at various turns, Lady Gaga, Patsy Cline and Kate Bush, giving her music an unsubtle edge over her compatriots,” Shaad D’Souza wrote.
4. “The girl, so confusing version with lorde” by Charli xcx
What’s more girlie pop than girls being girls’ girls? You don’t have to look any further than the song to see what happened. “Can't tell if you wanna see me / Falling over and failing,” Charli sang. Lorde responded: “Well, honestly, I was speechless / When I woke up to your voice note / You told me how you'd been feeling / Let's work it out on the remix.”
5. “Please, please, please” by Sabrina Carpenter
Hard to separate from its iconic music video, featuring Irish actor and Sabrina’s boyfriend, Barry Keoghan, this song screamed “girl power.” Mikael Wood called it “a slinky yacht-rock jam about a famous woman’s anxieties regarding a public relationship.”
Ah, the female experience. Ever nuanced and often, confusing. Other honorable mentions for songs I had on replay were “CHIHIRO” by Billie Eilish and “Austin (Boots Stop Workin’)” by Dasha.
Read my last pop culture story here: Nicholas Galitzine should be on your radar
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🎶 What I’m Listening To: See above