Whose hit will be the Song of the Summer?

The big news is that Taylor Swift won’t win the Song of the Summer race. Well, she probably won’t (she is Taylor after all).

This season new and old — very old in the world of pop — artists have sent some sunny and stunning jams up the charts. Who will win? Let’s take a look at the odds of a few competitors.

“A Bar Song (Tipsy),” Shaboozey

At times, the tune resembles a make-a-2020s-hit bingo card — Lumineers folk, a dash of twang, a dash of country trap, the call of “Someone pour me up a double shot of whiskey/They know me and Jack Daniels got a history.” It also already peaked on the charts early this month. But hot damn, if this isn’t a boozy boogie to get summer parties started and close down bars at last call. Expect this to bubble through a dozen demographics by August like a modern “Wagon Wheel.”

Shot at the title: 1 in 5

“Espresso,” Sabrina Carpenter

No song has ever tried harder to sound like the Song of the Summer than “Espresso.” No. Song. Ever. It’s Dua Lipa plus Carly Rae Jepsen plus Mariah plus ABBA minus the originality each of those artists offer. But it isn’t without its magic or hooks — thank you co-writer and ex-Boston ace Amy Allen. Knocks against it? Coffee can be sexy, it can’t be that sexy (see the lyric, “That morning coffee, brewed it for ya/One touch and I brand newed it for ya”).

Shot at the title: 1 in 6

“Birds of a Feather,” Billie Eilish

This sweetheart of a groove is Billie Eilish’s least Billie Eilish song. … is that a bit of Sade? …some disco? …an almost happy chord progression? It’s hard to imagine anything this bright, bubbly, and straightforward can come from the artist behind “Bad Guy.” Based on her short history as a megastar, if Eilish doesn’t take the title with “Birds of a Feather” this year, she’ll win with some equally unpredictable song in 2025, 2026, 2030, or 2050 (when she won’t even be 50).

Shot at the title: 1 in 10

“Houdini,” Eminem

Guess who’s back? And guess who’s back sampling himself rapping “Guess who’s back?” Yes, Eminem has crashed the Song of the Summer race with an absolute banger that pulls from his back catalog and 1982 title contender “Abracadabra.” Em tries waaaaay too hard to offend people — he seems downright desperate. And also, again, it’s an absolute banger.

Shot at the title: 1 in 25

“The Spark,” Kabin Crew & Lisdoonvarna Crew

The last time kids made a song this infectious was… Hmm… “Royals” by Lorde… “MMMBop” by Hanson? No, this is more infectious. And it comes from a bunch of Irish tweens. With help from a producer at an arts nonprofit in Cork that runs a songwriting program for kids, a dozen or so young ones conjured a feel-good hip hop jam with righteous club thump. Try not to shout along to this chorus: “Think you can stop what we do I doubt it/We got the energy we’ll tell ya all about it/I searched for my spark and i found it/Everybody in the crowd start bouncin’.”

Shot at the title: Who knows? Between 1 in 100 or 1 in 2.

 

Sabrina Carpenter performs during the Governors Ball Music Festival earlier this month in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Previous post A seeming fatal crash in southeastern Minnesota is now investigated as a homicide in Minneapolis
Next post Editorial: Cowardly protesters need to be accountable – show your faces