The Hot and Sweaty PAPER 2026 Summer Playlist

"Hot night…Summer in the city," Girls heroine Hannah Horvath once wisely put it, wigged-up, whilst roleplay-flirting with her honey, Adam.

10 summers later and…yeah. Pretty much. Besides the partying, flirtiness, and excruciating heat, it's the summer media that hits the PAPER staff hardest this time of year. A beach read, a trip to the theater, and most importantly, the music. Aux control should be coveted tenfold when what's playing is blasting out of opened windows. Loud music on MacBook speakers in an air-conditioned apartment is peak living — especially the music of summer.

There are songs that discuss summer and its mystique. Consider Lana Del Rey, with her "Hot Summer nights, Mid July, when you and I were forever wild." At PAPER HQ, we're hot under the collar and anticipating her new album (and the sister compilation she's just teased.) Addison dominated last year with her self-titled LP, which included "Summer Forever," the track that tells of all the elusive, atmospheric feelings this time of year encourages.

But lyrical coverage of summer, though fantastic, does not make a song of the summer. Songs of the summer are evocative, singular.

2026 has been an incredible year for new music. And we're only in the second quarter! But PAPER's staff of writers are always looking back as much as we look forward, and all around. As such, breaking free of the constraints of "Song of the Summer," we've instead compiled a songs of the summer playlist for our readers' listening pleasure. We hope it cools things down, but the inserts that do heat things up are worth it. Trust.

Without further ado, here's PAPER's Summer 2026 Playlist, courtesy of the PAPER family: Joan Summers, Andie Kirby, Taylor Lomax, Bea Isaacson, and Ella Devi!

Stream it here.

Joan Summer's Picks

"Hall of Fame," Chxrry

I've been spending quite a bit of time across the pond, and by pond I mean Lake Ontario, in the great city of Toronto. Chxrry, a local icon, has made big waves internationally with her phenomenal new album, "Hall of Fame" being its crown jewel. She's got the making of a generational pop star, and by the sound of the buzz she's ensconced in of late, I'd say sooner rather than later!

As for being a song of the summer, maybe even the song of the summer, "Hall of Fame" features the all-timer: "too sexy to go home." A mantra, a mood, a way of living for bad bitches in their thirties. -Joan Summers

"Too Easy," Tinashe

I've said for years that we should give Tinashe a gun. Thankfully, she doesn't need one, as this song is the gun and she's fired the first warning shots into the various global pop industries that have pillaged her singular sound and mined her for ideas over the last decade. "Too Easy" is a perfect song, but its also the best way to explain Tinashe's entire deal to people. Everyone tries very, very hard to look and sound and move like Tinashe. As for Tinashe? It's all a bit too easy for her! -Joan Summers

"Wink Wink," Charli xcx

Wink wink wink wink wink wink wink wink! This one is immediately in the Charli xcx hall of fame, as it exemplifies everything she's so damn good at: storytelling, humor, catchy hooks, and twisting the structure of pop music into something nobody else seems capable of. My personal favorite line, and maybe the funniest of her career? "My friend Rostam told me I dressed like a slut/ now I only shop at A.P.C."

"Style," Club 69

I love to throw this song into my DJ sets, because the kids have never heard it and the old people realize I know ball, like actual ball. It's a stone cold house music classic and an eternal summer mood. As it teaches: "Glamour can be bought! Style? This must be taught."

Andie Kirby's Picks

"Check It," Kim Petras

It's the summer of Kim. Finally. Amongst Detour's collection of glorious, gagworthy singles lie a set of equally replayable, yet more subdued sleeper hits. The best of these is "Check It," where guitar-plucked verses switch seamlessly into a pulsing hook. Petras flirts, flexing "the fit of my jeans" and "the gloss on my lips," daring whoever's listening to indulge. The whole album is bright and airy, but grounded and bass-boosted when it wants to be. Which seems incredibly summer. -Andie Kirby

"On Your Mind," FKA Twigs Feat. Lil Yachty

Twigs' first offering from what fans hope will be an after-Afterglow project (fingers crossed) is a tribute to the street dance styles that helped her cope with the infamous visa struggles she faced while attempting her 2025 Eusexua Tour. Coachella became a pipe dream, CDMX was far away. She kept this track, featuring her pitched-up, chipmunk-ian vocals, searing synths and stellar verse from Lil Yachty, a secret. Until now. The tours are over, the body high has been had. We now just pray that more music will come from the crazy mid-2020s mother Twigs has dealt with. -Andie Kirby

"Dust in the Wind," Chanel Beads

The 2026 follow-up album to Chanel Beads' 2024 debut, Your Day Will Come, may feel a bit familiar. It has the exact same name: Your Day Will Come. I think that's awesome and full of nerve, just like the 14 songs that fill the band's second volume. "Dust in the Wind" served as the third single for the record, and captures summertime sadness in a way that would make any LDR fan start questioning things. The combination of soft strumming, morphed vocals and lyrics like "pissing on the porch baby people don't change" and "pressed against the window baby wipe those tears" evokes a serious sense of existentialism that, as it looms and lingers, must be accepted. It is inevitable, conjured by the annual incessant heat. -Andie Kirby

“MR. NONCHALANT,” Tyla

“I like your eyes ‘cause they match my thong,” Tyla coos in the first lines of one of her 14 freshest tracks. This song, from her stunning, true-to-herself, though evolved, sophomore record, A*POP, is quick and cutting. She’s teasing, perfectly pecking at her lover just to move with the knowledge that she’ll have him to herself whether he’s ready to get over himself and admit it or not. -Andie Kirby

“Fa$hion Killa,” Bad Gyal

Step aside A$AP, Bad Gyal is better (badder?) than ever, and ready to take the hypebeast crown. She admits her admiration for the swag the rapper and his wife so famously rock, “Como RiRi y Rocky, baby,” she puts plainly on one of the flow of fashion consciousness filled verses. The chorus bounces, then builds to a simple, cute outro, where she sings to her sexy-dressed companion, “Tú y yo, fashion killas”. Okay goals. -Andie Kirby

"Earrings," Malcolm Todd

Two summers later, two album cycles after its initial mixtape release, and we’re still streaming this track from Todd’s first full-length project, Sweet Boy. It’s electric, classic and constantly taking on new life. In May, Todd’s sister, Audrey Hobert, covered the song for Triple J’s Like a Version. The cut remains his most streamed on Spotify. Even after an online-betting debacle resulting in stripped streams. We don’t care that nerds his age are stewing in their chat rooms, rolling the dice on his success: we know it’s here regardless. His latest LP, Do That Again, feels fitting for whenever our “Earrings”-filled queue runs dry. We’re running it back again and again. -Andie Kirby

"Motivation," Kelly Rowland Feat. Lil Wayne

2000s/2010s cusp singles will never not shine in the summer months. I don't make the rules. The songs whisper them to me and I report them. This one, from Rowland's fourth solo album, Here I Am, goes toe-to-toe with the newer smash-single installment in the "Songs Called 'Motivation'" canon. It must also be remembered. Her confident pre-chorus delivery is addictive. The motivation she's pulling from her partner has nothing to do with my gym journey, but her command, "You're almost there, (you can do it, I believe in you baby)," makes me go the extra StairMaster mile. That's powerful. -Andie Kirby

Taylor Lomax's Picks

"School," Madonna

Everyone's expecting this one; let's get it out of the way first. It is, as we know, #SafetyInNumbersSummer — what a treat to get to live through a Madonna monocultural moment in the year of our Lord 2026! Really, everything on Confessions II is on heavy rotation, but if I have to single one track out, it's certainly "School," a track I made fun of for months based on the title. She shut me up quick! As of my writing this, I have yet to hear this on a dance floor, but trust that I am going to be a problem when that day comes. That stuttering beat, its suffocating seediness, the chopped "I'd Rather Be Your Lover" interpolation — it's all too much! Leave it to Donna to release something this slinky, forward-thinking, and downright cunt four decades into her career. -Taylor Lomax

"BOSS TRIX (BENNY'S SONG)," Nirosta Steel

I waffled about picking another, more obscure song from the treasure trove that is Nirosta Steel's MY SKYSCRAPER, but this track is just too goddamn good and, more saliently, summery. Much like the rest of the album, a compilation of songs spanning decades, "BOSS TRIX" exists outside of time, conjuring a bygone avant-garde New York as much as it does strolling the streets in this ungodly data-center-induced heat. Steven Hall, the man behind the moniker, is best known as a close collaborator (and later in life steward) of Arthur Russell, and perhaps nowhere is it clearer than on this cut. Disco flirts with punk flirts with soul flirts with David Byrne-esque oddball spoken word; to try and put it into words is to diminish it needlessly. -Taylor Lomax

"Say You Do," Sigala feat. Imani Williams & DJ Fresh

My relationship with these tropical-house numbers that Love Island loves so much is, in a word, complicated. Much like the Islanders themselves, these songs tend to exist only in their immediate context for me (do not ask me if I saw XYZ person's appearance on whatever podcast — I did not, and what I do not know cannot hurt me). One quirk of Love Island USA I adore is the opening number humiliation ritual, which is invariably terrible but also smells so distinctly of sunscreen, Malibu, and tie-in Coffee-Mate that I find it in my heart to love it nonetheless. Upon first blush, I found this song, its banal non-lyrics and bastardization of "Always Be My Baby," a complete aesthetic affront.

Owing to Mariah's penchant for earworms, though, it began to sneak its way into my subconscious. I would play it during my customary smoke ahead of a new episode; I snuck it into queues of other, more becoming songs; I would loop it before it ended; over my sleep-deprived fever dream of a Pride bender, I would spend entire car rides listening to only this. Much like Love Island itself, it was a joke until it wasn't. That sort of sensual immediacy is, in a way, what summer is all about, no? -Taylor Lomax

"Hurt," 2hollis

Andie is going to be mad at me for including this, but by her own admission all the gay boys are loving this song! I'm a 2hollis agnostic; I'm aware of him and have heard snippets and maybe even songs here and there — never on purpose — but I understand his Drain Gang pastiche to be generally not my thing. If I want to listen to Bladee, an increasingly rare occurrence these days, I'm going to listen to Bladee.

"Hurt" came across my desk by virtue of Mackenzie Thomas dubbing it "one musical step away from every song RuPaul has ever made"; when I see something like that, I'm going to get involved. I love that he's just doing a decade-late SOPHIE attempt (on that note, that legendary SOPHIE run of singles was eleven years ago — feel old yet?). "He slept through his alarm, but he made it to school okay!" as a friend of mine, whose taste I trust but will keep anonymous for gender-neutral-their sake, put it. I can't make the music not slap, sorry! -Taylor Lomax

“Choosin’ Texas,” Ella Langley

“Choosin’ Texas” is a movement. “Choosin’ Texas” is a way of life. “Choosin’ Texas” makes the people come together. Waxahatchee and MJ Lenderman covered this song a while back, and my doll coworker always queues this every time she’s on aux. The Grammys changed the rules for Best New Artist seemingly just to accommodate Langley. Miranda Lambert is a writer on this song, so it’s no wonder it’s so goddamn classic and old-school perfect. Real hicks (I grew up in South Carolina, which makes me more interesting than many people) will know this song came out last October, but as with, say, “Truth Hurts” before it, Langley’s song took its time before achieving total cultural domination. -Taylor Lomax

Bea Isaacson's Picks

"SWIM!!!," by BAILEN

I'm a London girl through and through. I own a collection of jorts, I can roll the perfect fag, and I unironically call everyone darling. (It's great if you're bad with names.) And yet I will never, ever, get over missing out on an All-American summer. Somewhere between Outer Banks and old American Eagle commercials, I'm still a bit gutted I didn't have a teenage romance played out on a beach under a lavender sky. "SWIM!!!" by indie pop band BAILEN doesn't just sonically sound like the start of a long summer vacation, but it has that youthful earnestness of seeing a main character season fulfilled.

It could be annoying, but its euphoric chorus and frequent profanity save it from cringe. It's a real summer anthem that celebrates the freedom of a season that still inspires both excitement for the future, and bittersweet daydreaming for what was. Or wasn't. -Bea Isaacson

​"Notting Hill," by Suki Waterhouse

Sorry, talking about London again. Suki Waterhouse, the model, actress, musician, and generational It Girl, is back with a new album, Loveland. The sultry, dreamy 'Notting Hill' boasts seductive lyrics – "I bring you breakfast back to bed / You're my favourite flavour / You light a cigarette instead / My gosh you're shameless" – and a catchy chorus, which is wonderfully amplified by a stellar guitar riff that sounds both nostalgic and utterly, electrifyingly modern.

It's a shimmering, sun-dazed track, as light as it is intimate, that lingers like a well-earned tan. What else can I say? It sounds like if Breakfast at Tiffany's were filmed in the summer. And was, you know, set in London. Notting Hill, specifically. -Bea Isaacson

"If So," by Atlas Genius

You've caught me at a very Gap 2015 playlist time in my life. Not to sound all back in my day, but will this kind of optimistic, electric indie rock ever rule supreme in the zeitgeist again? Cool, curling vocals are laid over breezy synth hooks and vivid guitar usage. It's a breezy and yet inventive tune that dips and soars with all the movement of the lapping of the ocean upon the sand.

And we're far away enough from 2013, when it was released, for it to sound totally of its time: this is millennial party rock music for beach parties and summer night montages. It is also, I am earnest to convince you, just as addictive listening today. -Bea Isaacson

​“Spend Dat,” Yung Miami

There are two types of people in the world: those that have been to Miami, and those that haven’t. Unsurprisingly, Yung Miami — one half of City Girls alongside JT — captures her city’s essence with all the easy swagger and gilded sensibilities that so characterises this near mystical city, where money doesn’t just talk, it defines. How did you get this money? In Miami, it doesn’t fucking matter. “This for all my scammers and my get-money bitches” Yung Miami declares at the onset. A laidback Miami bass is layered with soulful, even Latin sounding strings for a pleasant, pulsing instrumental that allows Yung Miami’s rapping crystal clarity atop J. White Did It’s controlled production. -Bea Isaacson

Ella Devi's Picks 

"Cocky AF," Megan Thee Stallion

I rediscovered "Cocky AF" by Megan Thee Stallion from a TikTok edit of Harper from HBO's Industry. I've never watched that show, but I relate to her on a very spiritual level. Great song to listen to while pacing around your bedroom pretending you're Shiv Roy. -Ella Devi

"Lil Maria," Bassvictim

I wouldn't be a good Parsons student if I didn't put a Bassvictim song in here. "Lil Maria" by Bassvictim has been on repeat since May. It's perfect for the girls doing a lot of reflecting on their younger selves this summer. -Ella Devi

"Money, Money, Money," ABBA

Every summer playlist needs a little ABBA in it! "Money, Money, Money" belongs in the "anti-capitalist anthem for the ages with the added benefit of being a great karaoke song" genre, alongside "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton. -Ella Devi

Images courtesy of Getty and Moni Haworth