Audio File Rates: Songs of The Summer

Written by Anna Porter, Graphic by Anna Porter

Once the calendar turns to August, people begin to discuss the loaded question, “What is the song of the summer?” 2024 has seen a lot of great music, dominated by big album releases, including Charli xcx’s “BRAT,” and now we are preparing for a grand finale at the end of the summer with the anticipation of Sabrina Carpenter’s “Short n’ Sweet.” As SCAD District’s music reporter, Audio File has taken on the challenge of providing you with some of the song of the summer contenders and giving you a detailed review and rating for each one.

Apple- Charli xcx

As the unexpected hit from Charli xcx’s new album BRAT, “Apple” serves as a lighthearted summer bop. It’s complete with a TikTok dance that seemingly everyone has taken part in, including our very own president, Paula Wallace. The song uses a catchy, tried-but-true formula yet still stands out as a completely original song. While the production is rather understated in comparison to the rest of the album, the mix of sung and spoken lyrics makes “Apple” one of the summer favorites despite it not even being released as a single!

Rating: 10/10

Espresso- Sabrina Carpenter

Although “Espresso” was an April release, it seemed to be the song that truly kicked off the summer as its popularity rose early into June. And, as the name suggests, it’s still going strong! Sabrina Carpenter has truly become the it-girl this summer (long overdue,) and she has a knack for writing extremely catchy lyrics that never seem to get old. The fact that it’s already been four months since the release of this song, and I still don’t feel the need to skip it when it comes up, speaks for itself.

Rating: 9/10

BIRDS OF A FEATHER- Billie Eilish

The second single from Billie Eilish’s newest album, “HIT ME HARD AND SOFT,” is a sweet, summery song that’s lighter than most of Billie’s discography. When listening to the album for the first time, this one definitely stood out as one of my favorites because of the soft production and beautiful vocal delivery. The chorus provides a catchy hook, and producer FINNEAS adds his artistry with a unique synth sound that closes out the song. “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” is the type of song you want to listen to on a beautiful day with the windows of your car rolled down.

Rating: 8/10

I Had Some Help- Post Malone ft. Morgan Wallen

It’s rare for an Audio File article to travel down the path of country and/or rap music, but as this article is a rating of songs I believe to objectively be songs of the summer, I must include these genres. Post Malone’s transition to country for his upcoming album, F-1 Trillion, was surprising, but his voice does work for country music. However, I feel that this song doesn’t provide much of a unique take on this genre of music. It blends into the background and doesn’t quite “disrupt” the country scene in a way I would’ve hoped from a Post Malone genre-switch. Suffice it to say, it’s a fun song for line dancing.

Rating: 4/10

Good Luck, Babe!- Chappell Roan

Upcoming pop star and your favorite artist’s favorite artist, Chappell Roan, has finally seen her rise to success this summer. While she has been releasing music for years, her leg of opening for the Olivia Rodrigo “GUTS Tour” introduced her to the mainstream. Chappell hasn’t yet released a new album under this newfound success, but she did drop the single “Good Luck Babe” at the beginning of the summer. The song is lyrically rich, has a catchy bridge, and closes out with an interesting distorted outro, which makes this a great single. I love the storytelling Chappell uses to express her disdain for a failed relationship and the “what-ifs” while thinking about the future.

Rating: 9/10

Nasty- Tinashe

The TikTok algorithm truly has an effect on determining the song of the summer, and this song is one that has been present for many of the 2024 summer trends. While some people may not listen to the song on its own, the famous lines are instantly recognizable. For this review, I listened to the full song for the first time– it’s surely catchy, but as it’s pretty repetitive, I don’t think “Nasty” is a song that’s able to be played on repeat. The lyrics don’t provide much substance, but as for the production, I love the simple bass that sits under the lyrics throughout the song. I can see this being a song that comes up ten years from now in my autoplay, and for some reason, I know I’ll feel nostalgic about it.

Rating: 6/10

Please Please Please- Sabrina Carpenter

Sabrina Carpenter has not just one but two songs of the summer. “Please Please Please” is the second single released for her upcoming album, and if you didn’t think it could get better than “Espresso,” you’ve been proven wrong. I absolutely love the production of this song (by our beloved Jack Antonoff,) and the synth intro is one of the best pop intros I’ve heard in a while. The lyrics of the song are timely, with the internet finding out about Sabrina Carpenter’s relationship with actor Barry Keoghan, and Sabrina was smart enough to even bring him on the music video. Overall, this song makes her new album “Short n’ Sweet” very promising.

Rating: 10/10

Not Like Us: Kendrick Lamar

This song is another one that we all heard a lot of on TikTok this summer. While I, unfortunately, know nothing about Kendrick Lamar’s discography, I feel like I’m not quite suited for this review, but I’ll do my best. This song is a diss track on Drake, whose downfall seemed to characterize part of this summer’s pop culture. The repetitive synths make this song very recognizable, and the fast flow and witty lyrics will allow this song to continuously stay at the top of Kendrick’s catalog. Even though this song doesn’t match my personal taste, I can understand why people would love it.

Rating: 6/10

Champagne Coast- Blood Orange

English artist Blood Orange has had his claim to fame this year with the release of the movie “Challengers.” His song “Uncle ACE” was used in a scene of the movie, and around this time, people started to recognize how good his music was. “Champagne Coast” has become one of his other popular songs, which I’ve heard used in many TikTok videos recently. The emphasis on instrumentals in his songs makes him a unique artist in the current pop world, and the instrumental section in “Champagne Coast” that has become popular proves that people enjoy this style. As a fan of Blood Orange prior to this summer, I’m excited that he’s starting to see the limelight. 

Rating: 9/10

Guess featuring Billie Eilish- Charli xcx

All roads lead back to BRAT. While we entered the summer with the BRAT singles, Charli xcx has a new release to wrap up the summer– a remix of the song “Guess” with Billie Eilish featured on the bridge. The original song was produced by musician The Dare, but of course, he has joined forces with FINNEAS to work it out on the remix. Guess is perhaps one of the most lighthearted and lyrically meaningless songs on BRAT, but that’s why it’s perfect. Billie’s vocal delivery meshes very well with the song, and her lyrics add some spice that we don’t get to see from her very often. Overall, we could call Charli and Billie “birds of a feather” because of how well they blend into this song.

Rating: 10/10

This concludes our in-depth analysis of the songs of the summer. I feel that 2024 has been the year where we have finally started to see how the 2020s decade will shape out in terms of music, and I’m so excited to see where our favorite artists take us in 2025.