Around a year ago today I was writing my “Summer 2023 Music Round Up” for The Point. I had to narrow my list of music down just to fit the word count last year, but after this summer, I’ve hardly managed to scrape together four albums I think are worth your listen if you haven’t already.
Now this is a piece meant to highlight the best music from this summer, or else I’d go into detail about what music you shouldn’t waste your time on. However, I’ll rift off a few projects I either forgot about right after I gave them a listen or didn’t even bother touching.
Childish Gambino aka Donald Glover’s album “Bando Stone and The New World” was different from anything he’s ever released. I’m not going to say it was bad, but it was definitely exposing listeners to an edgier side of Glover. He’s always proudly carried the title of the awkward nerd who can rap for some reason, and this album was his way of reminding us he’s a little weird.
Mainstream names like Ice Spice, Megan Thee Stallion and Camila Cabello all made new music this summer. These albums could be great… or they could be terrible. You’ll have to let me know because I just wasn’t interested in what these industry plants had to offer. Most of the songs will probably end up on TikTok anyway, so I’m sure they’ll find me sooner than later.
While there’s more that I could tap into about how rough of a summer it was for music, let’s get to the fun stuff and highlight my four favorite albums from the summer months.
1. “F-1 Trillion” – Post Malone / Best Song – “Pour Me A Drink”
I really didn’t want to go the basic route with the “Best Song” for this album, but “Pour Me A Drink” is just so catchy. The fourth song on the album that featured Blake Shelton was playing all summer for me. Post managed to snag Morgan Wallen, ERNST, Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton and a few other country music juggernauts for this August album. The southern artist has stuck to rap and pop for the majority of his legendary career, but clearly you can’t “un-redneck” someone from Grapevine, Texas. Post sounded incredibly comfortable in a country setting, and the plethora of household names featured on this album leaves a track for everyone to enjoy.
2. “The Great American Bar Scene” – Zach Bryan / Best Song – “American Nights”
There is no question that Zach Bryan has both a memorable voice and God-given talent to write moving songs. But this guy is the true definition of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” It’s only been two months since this album released, and when I hear its tracks, I already can’t remember what album they come from. All his stuff sounds frustratingly similar, but what’s even more upsetting is that it continues to sound good. I’ll give credit where it’s due, and with country being ultra-competitive right now, Bryan has firmly solidified himself as a top 5 country artist today. “The Great American Bar Scene” is a 19-song album that would have sufficed at 12-15 songs, but then again, Bryan’s been releasing overly long albums since his debut… so what’s new?
3. “HIT ME HARD AND SOFT” – Billie Eilish / Best Song – “LUNCH”
I’m hoping there aren’t a ton of Billie Eilish fans reading my stuff because they’d know I never write about Eilish. It’s not that she’s bad by any means, but Eilish’s sound has just never resonated with me. But music was slow this summer and I saw the 22-year-old artist and her brother Finneas had dropped an album at the beginning of the summer. And I… liked it? Eilish killed this album, and between her vocals and her brother’s producing reaching a new level on this project, I thought the duo had one of the best albums from Summer 2024. I won’t try to compare this album to Eilish’s past work, but I think the 10 songs that make up “HIT ME HARD AND SOFT” are just objectively good songs no matter how impressive Eilish has been in the past.
4. “Dark Times” – Vince Staples / Best Song – “Black&Blue”
Any day that I get to write about Vince Staples is a good day. Like Eilish, Staples gifted fans with this album back in May and I’ve patiently waited four months to now rave about it to all of you. Staples once again bodied the samples on this project. He possesses one of the most creative, unconventional minds in rap and manages to curate the most perfect samples. His dull, but gripping voice glides along the beats and samples that change with each new song (no offense Zach Bryan, but different sounding music is quite the concept). “Little Homies” sees Staples mix his common rapping style with a faster paced singing over a techno beat, “Black&Blue” is the soulful start that this album needed and “Justin” is the hilarious story of a woman Staples had met having to pretend he is her cousin when her boyfriend walks in on them having drinks — further showcasing Staples’ ability to tell stories through rap. This album was just the most recent project in a string of impressive pieces from Staples, and the versatility and production quality of the album made it the most memorable from this summer.
