PAPER's Songs of the Summer 2024

Charli xcx - "365"

The closing track to Charli XCX’s hot girl record brat is a sonic orgasm: anthemically taking you through every emotion of a perfect night out. It’s loud and dizzying, and makes you want to strut down any sidewalk or hallway you can find, and then bash your head into a bathroom stall wall at your favorite club (in the best way). "KEEP BUMPIN’ THAT!" I know I will.

— Alaska Riley, Social Editor

Sabrina Carpenter - "Espresso"

I first heard "Espresso" at Coachella this spring and I don’t think I’ve had a day when it hasn’t played in my head since. Sugary sweet and with more than a few lines you can add to your daily, cheeky lexicon (see: “My give a fucks are on vacation”), this track may have been the first warning of Sabrina Carpenter's current chart takeover. What better way to soundtrack your heat-filled sleepless nights than with a track about your lover’s obsession, brimming with witty lines (“I know I mountain dew it for you”). As sensational as the singer behind its lyrics, it’s hard to imagine a proper seasonal playlist that doesn’t include this bop.

— Erica Campbell, Music Editor

Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross - "Challengers: Match Point"

People joked that they should play the Challengers soundtrack in the gay club and it became my reality this summer. It’s just so perfect for that twilight moment in the club, around 1:30 AM when the strobes and people and music blend into one primordial entity. I recommend being hot and bringing hot friends to the club in preparation, so that when the DJ bumps it, you can look around after a vodka soda, maybe a blunt outside, like, “So, are y’all going to kiss or what?” Preferably you have a cunty little bob for the occasion, but I’d take a little skirt and crop top with the Versace “Medusa” pumps as an alternative.

— Joan Summers, Writer

Remi Wolf - "Soup"

Remi Wolf distills the complex, at times illogical sensation of love down to sharing each other’s keys and picking up dinner on her single, “Soup,” off new album Big Ideas (Also check out “Pitiful” and “Alone in Miami”). Relationships can be selfish and desperate, scary and addicting, often leading you to just “getting drunk on the rooftop” as a means of surviving all these emotions. Here, Remi wraps it all up into a massive power-pop tune that explodes on the cathartic chorus (“They told me to leave, but I don’t wanna leave without you!”) and captures summer escapism in the most honest, colorful way.

— Justin Moran, Editor-in-chief

Camila Cabello - "I LUV IT"

"I Luv It”? I love it! And look: after writing our Camila Cabello cover story, I know better than probably anyone that many of you do not! Which is fine, but I invite you to open up your cold, brat-green heart for just a moment and allow yourself to take a whiff of what’s in this particular bottle. Because “I Luv It” is not just an electrifying shock to wake us up and see Camila in a whole new, electric-blue light. It’s also a truly memorable sonically expansive earworm that I believe will be remembered for a very long time. Not just because it’s a real bop, but because it’s our portal to C,XOXO, which (and I’m the Paul Revere of saying this) is genuinely very good!

— Tobias Hess, Writer

Chappell Roan - "Good Luck, Babe!"

I’m not afraid to say it: I’m a latecomer to the greatness that is Chappell Roan. I’d skimmed last year’s The Rise and Fall of A Midwest Princess without ever really latching on — but this standalone single sold me big time, becoming an immediate staple of my library. The bridge alone is powerful enough to kill a small child! It’s also a clear contender for the song of the summer in a larger sense because it does feel inescapable (at bars, on the radio, in my head) — and no matter how much I hear it, I don’t get tired of that chorus.

— Matt Wille, Managing Editor

Tinashe - "Nasty"

“Is somebody gonna match my freak?” is the question weighing on everybody’s minds this summer. Endless memes and TikToks aside, Tinashe is finally having her big moment and I couldn’t be happier for her, especially as an independent artist. It’s been a long time coming too. She’s been working hard and it’s finally paying off in a big way! With its minimal production, “Nasty” is proof that sometimes all you need is a lit bass and drum line, an addictive melody and catchy lyrics.

— Andrew Nguyen, Fashion Editor

Sabrina Carpenter - "Please Please Please"

“Everyone makes mistakes, but just don’t” has been replaying in my head since the first time I heard Sabrina Carpenter's hit single “Please, Please, Please.” It seems like no matter what song you’re playing on Spotify, it will be next on the queue, and I appreciate that. The cunty little bop earned Sabrina her first No.1 on the Billboard 100 making her the first solo act to have two songs in the top five. And if two spots in the top five wasn’t enough, she hit us with an iconic music video starring her Oscar-nominated boyfriend Barry Keoghan. This woman is everything to me.

— Angelina Cantú, Editorial Producer

NewJeans - "How Sweet"

The hook of “How Sweet” sneaks up on you rather than hitting you over the head. The K-Pop group continues their effortless reign over pop with a synth-y hook about the ecstasy that comes from leaving a toxic relationship. “It’s like biting an apple,” the girls sing before the infectious chorus. With a mind-blowing visual by Creative Director Min Hee Jin that puts most Western pop girls to shame, the song is another banger in the NewJeans vault that will elevate them to that coveted bubblegum superstar status.

— Ivan Guzman, Writer

Charli XCX - "Guess"

This song was the surprise sleeper hit off of brat. I’ve been to about three different brat-centric parties and without fail, it’s this and the “The girl so confusing version with lorde” that people go up for the hardest. For good reason, too. “You wanna guess the color of my underwear” is both a question and a command on the dancefloor, a spiritual successor to the great club classics of Kylie Minogue and Britney Spears, whose songs often pose similar commands and questions of the imagined voyeur. That, and it sounds like they cranked up the bass on one of Uffie’s bloghouse classics like “Hot Chick.” Fitting, as Charli XCX is the only producer and songwriter capable of bringing the hipster generation into the new world in a way that is both sexy enough to feel future-thinking and sweaty enough to match the changing climate.

— Joan Summers, Writer

Doechii, JT - "Alter Ego"

It took a little bit for this one to grow on me, to be honest, but after seeing the music video set in the swamps of South Florida, I was sold on the vision. And then a couple of drinks and hearing it on big speakers that shook my soul, while shaking ass with my besties, I was addicted. Here’s to (responsibly) messy nights out this summer!

— Andrew Nguyen, Fashion Editor

Clairo - "Sexy to Someone"

Clairo is not a mother, per se, but she is a cousin, friend, sister, confidante and bard. Though I’ve been seated since Immunity became my age cohort’s whispering answer to Jagged Little Pill, I did fall off momentarily with the relatively coo coo sounding Jack Antonoff-produced Sling. I’ve since come around on that strange album’s charm, but I was overjoyed to hear “Sexy to Someone,” which is Antonoff-free, jammy, vulnerable as ever, but infused with a levity we haven’t seen from dear Claire since “Pretty Girl.”

— Tobias Hess, Writer

PinkPantheress - "Turn it up"

PinkPantheress continues to amaze me with her earworm excellence and ability to capture our short attention spans. This time it’s with a strategic Selena sample that cuts straight through all Mexican-Americans’ hearts. “Dreaming of You” was that song they used in Selenawhen she was shot and killed by Yolanda, so it really stings. But PinkPantheress takes that nostalgia and turns it into a summertime bop, with another hook that just stays with you. “Hey, it’s me/ We’ve been talking twice a week,” she sings. And shoutout to British king Nate Di Winer (of Tinashe “Nasty” white boy dance fame) for giving us his rendition of “Turn It Up.” Seems like he can make any song go viral by shaking his lil booty.

— Ivan Guzman, Writer

Gracie Abrams - "Close To You"

Gracie Abrams had a lot to prove with her debut album The Secret Of Us and she did not disappoint. The long-awaited single “Close To You” was first teased (and pretty much scrapped) seven years ago, but the original demo has been a fan favorite since she played a piano rendition on TikTok a few years ago, inspiring a wave of continued desire for the full song. The final production is reminiscent of Lorde’s “Greenlight,” a pounding heart-achey beat driven by lyrics of longing that feel more hopeful than sad. Lovergirls deserve songs of the summer too! Shoutout Gracie for giving us one.

— Alaska Riley, Social Editor

Billie Eilish - "LUNCH"

“Lunch” is a hit for many reasons, but we’ll touch on the most important one. It’s the first explicitly sapphicsong to debut No.1 on the charts. When the track first leaked during Coachella it was heard in every lesbian group chat around the world. The first 10 seconds alone rewrote gay history.

— Angelina Cantú, Editorial Producer

METTE - "BET"

METTE is the type of ultra-special artist we’ll look back at and collectively wonder why she was slept on for so long. Her funk-inflected single, “BET,” really wakes you up, though, paired with a video highlighting the Minnesota native’s dance skills and reveals that it’s actually a self-love anthem. “One day, soon you’ll be loving me,” she sings to herself, over production that sounds as sunny as a mid-summer block party in New York. Ice cream trucks are inching by, fire hydrants are spraying water onto the streets and METTE becomes the perfect soundtrack. “I thought I was writing a song about external love, but really, I was writing a song about eternal love,” METTE says. “I realize now that 'BET' was meant to remind me that self-love is worth betting everything on.”

— Justin Moran, Editor-in-chief

Chappell Roan - "My Kink Is Karma"

Even though it was released last year, I snuck this one onto the list because I cannot, and I refuse to, stop streaming "My Kink Is Karma" on repeat. A song about getting off your ex's karmic retribution equipped with a chorus that climbs to a climax? I dare you to listen and not scream "Oh god!" at the top of your lungs. There has been so much said about Chappell Roan, but her knack for writing love songs where we can be petulant lovers and shamelessly honest narrators is unmatched. Not to mention that singing "It's hot!" on repeat while walking down steamy summer streets just makes sense, whether karma is your kink or not.

— Erica Campbell, Music Editor

Charli XCX, Lorde - "The girl, so confusing version with lorde"

It’s a Hot brat Summer — literally ask anyone! — and “Girl, so confusing” was a brat standout from the jump. A catchy diss track about Charli’s insecurities? Sign me up. And then for the much-rumored subject of the song to jump on a remix? Legendary. Lorde manages to match Charli’s energy and vulnerability (and sing-rapping) to a tee, bridging the gap between two icons with seeming ease. I get chills every time Lorde says, “Cause you know I ride for you, Charli.” Chills!

— Matt Wille, Managing Editor

Photography: Getty Images