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 Brat regional: bright green, self-confident, and unbothered.
Listen to the Brat episode of The FADER’s Songs of the Summer series wherever you get your podcasts, or embedded below.
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Winner: RADA: "payme"
Although I was too young to enter the club at the time, I always associate the late 2000s and early 2010s with maximalist EDM and tranced-out Eurohouse, the sort of beats that inspires young professionals to release their inhibitions and spend a little more money on drinks. "payme" leans more "Club Can't Handle Me" than Black Eyed Peas, but RADA and producer Endevour are interested in physical, rather than melodic catharsis. Throw your hands up high and that ass down low. — Vivian Medithi. Read the full blog here.
Waxahatchee feat. MJ Lenderman: “Right Back To It” (SoFTT trance edit)
Summer is all about doing things you maybe shouldn’t but that just feel good. That’s exactly what Miami duo SoFTT did when they took Waxahatchee’s “Right Back To It” and turned it into a pounding relentless gurner of a trance anthem. There is little about the original, which features MJ Lendermann on guitar and vocals about faultlines and goldmines, that makes it primed for the club. And yet, SoFTT’s edit imagines a world in which Katy Crutchfield was a ‘90s Eurodance diva in the vein of Cascada or Alice Deejay. — David Renshaw
Charli XCX: "360"
If you want to know what having a brat summer means, Charli’s got you: “That city sewer slut's the vibe/ internationally recognized.” It’s sweat-stained tank tops, club raves that go well into the early hours of the morning, mixed drinks with a side of lime and poppers, A.G. Cook DJ-ing your warehouse party, last night’s make-up stains found on gauzy white dresses, gold crosses, bad tattoos on leather-tanned skin. — Cady Siregar
Buscabulla: "11:11"
We all love a tropical electro-pop earworm, and Buscabulla’s “11:11” does it right with its deliriously fun fusion of indie sleaze dance, buoyant Miami club, and hip-swinging Caribbean rhythms. Vibrant and carefree, think of it as the sonic version of a Summer Friday piñata colada or a raucous beachside party, complete with a bonfire and glitter hot pants. — Sandra Song
skaiwater: "bleach"
skaiwater half-answers questions such as “What if XXXTentacion made pop music?” On “bleach,” brainrot 808s underscore her gossamer melodies, though she’ll dive out of falsetto and into a Playboi Carti rasp without hesitating. In an era of watered down retreads and focus-grouped aesthetics, skai’s unwavering trust in her own instincts is truly refreshing, original and uninhibited. — Vivian Medithi
Tove Lo and SG Lewis: "Let me go OH OH"
Tove Lo teams up with SG Lewis to create another unrestrained, hard-nipped, fully charged dance-pop banger. A fourth of the Minogue-inspired HEAT EP, “Let me go OH OH” captures the hedonistic rush of clubbing gone right. Tove Lo says it’s for “when you find the person you want to take home,” but don’t be surprised if she goes onto the next before you can say “OH OH.” — Hannah Sung
Cash Cobain and Bay Swag: “Fisherrr”
The most ubiquitous sound blaring from the open windows of apartments and cars in the tri-state area this summer has been Cash Cobain’s nasal croon, carried on soft synth chords, a high-pitched pedal point string, and a synthetic closed hi-hat. “Got an attitude, but you bad as shit, so I ain't mad at you,” he starts, a flow that’s now ingrained into the minds of every New York city dweller, whether consciously or not. When the beat finally drops nearly two minutes into the song, it’s almost beside the point; “Fisherrr” is a classic from its first bar. — Raphael Helfand
Sexyy Red: "Get It Sexyy"
Last year, Sexyy Red had three bonafide contenders for song of the summer: “Pound Town,” “Skee Yee,” and “Hellcats SRTs.” This year, she’s managed to outdo herself with just one colossal hit, the anthemic-on-arrival “Get It Sexyy.” Go to any event and just listen to the way people scream along to her bars: “BOY YOU KNOW THIS ASS SUPER FAT / i ain’t lyin thooooo / FUCKIN ME GOOD I’M THROWIN THAT SHIT BACK / I’m his favorite hooooooooo.” For two and a half minutes, everyone feels like a bad bitch. — VM