By: Cristina Liao, Peak Associate
As the weather gets warmer and the first bloom of sprind fades away, summer is peeking around the corner. These songs are perfect for the feelings I associate with the season: melancholic summer nights where the sun stretches into twilight or singing from the car window on a roadtrip. Get ready for a summer of high emotions.
“Apple Pie” by Lizzy McAlpine
Photo Credit: AWAL
Lizzy McAlpine’s soft and beautiful voice on “Apple Pie” matches the sappy emotions that can be felt in the months between May and August on a chill morning. This is a song from McAlpine’s debut album in 2020, Give Me a Minute, and it encompasses the feeling of summer love. With minimal production and gorgeous lyricism, McAlpine croons about wandering through homes and missing somebody. She mentions her real home is with a person who can be presumed to be her lover.
“If By Chance” by Ruth B
Photo Credit: Columbia Records
“If By Chance” by Ruth B is a melancholic summer song, but it’s one of those pieces that you have to listen to on a July night at a cabin. If you can’t be there, this song helps you imagine it. The production on this piece features a mix of piano and orchestral elements. From the lyrics, one can tell that it’s about the singer telling her ex-lover that they’ll always have a chance even if they are with someone new. With lyrics such as, “And I don’t mean to be selfish / But my heart breaks every time / That I see you smile / ‘Cause I know that it’s not me,” this is definitely a song that will get you in your feels on a warm night.
“Falling Up” by Dean Lewis
Photo Credit: Island Records
“Falling Up” is a perfect carpool karaoke song, that you scream out of an open car window on the highway. With the upbeat production, this is a sure hit for your dance party. According to Indie Band Guru, Lewis’ song “speaks to the loneliness and claustrophobia that can be relatable to the current pandemic. But it also speaks to frustration, anxiety, and the struggle to be truly content in life.” If you want a more acoustic feel to it, Spotify has guitar and piano versions of the song.
“Never Had A Chance” by Katherine Li
Photo Credit: Katherine Li
More and more music can be discovered through TikTok. I initially found out about Li through her TikTok account, and thought that “Never Had A Chance” was a gorgeous piece by an independent artist. While being quite a sad song, it is one for the quiet and lonely summer nights. Similar to “If By Chance,” this has more of a melancholic feel and is about missing someone even if you had never been in a relationship with them.
“london (with Cam)” by Wrabel
Photo Credit: Big Gay Records/Nettwerk Records
The song “london” is a chill, easy-to-listen piece about missing someone in the summer. The singers talk about how when it gets cold in California, they think back to that winter in London. When they miss London, they’re missing that person. While the lyrics to this duet can be melancholic, it can also be understood as uplifting at the same time. The lyrics convey that they are still in love even if the relationship didn’t necessarily work out. As this song is a duet, it seems to show both perspectives of a relationship. The lyrics convey a cutesy summer feel for a montage of main characters running through a field of flowers.
