Check out The Concordian’s music picks from this summertime!
Summertime is notorious for celebration across the board and for a lot of us, it is an opportunity to travel outside of our year-long cocoon of a city. It involves new soundscapes to accompany us through places we’re heading to and in the midst of discovering them, it reminds us of people we’ve carved new relationships with or even briefly encountered. Music is a natural attachment through and through, acting like a time capsule to specific feelings and slices of life. Whether you spent your entire day at the beach in some European town, stayed in your neighbourhood to run important errands, or hung out at a park in Montreal with your friends, I’m sure we all had music in some proximity this season. Here is a list from some of our staff members sharing a piece of how music came into their summer window and what it means to them— and potentially you.
| Dalia Nardolillo – Editor-in-Chief“Dance the Night” by Dua Lipa (2023) This is going to sound super corny but this song was the highlight of my summer. I worked at Lush this past summer and we recently released the Barbie collection. My coworker Michel blasted this song throughout the store and we would just have a party in the middle of the day. It was the best time I’ve ever spent at a summer job. |
| Lucas Marsh – Managing Editor“I’m Just Ken: from the Barbie Soundtrack” by Ryan Gosling (2023) Sticking with the Barbie Theme, if there is one song that I will associate this summer with it’s gotta be “I’m just Ken.” I got to see the premier of the Barbie movie while I was in Athens. When we got to the part in the movie when this song started to play, a group of elderly Greek men sitting around me started to sway and dance in their seats, overcome by the song. |
| Mackenzie Sanche – Copy Editor“New Perspective” by Noah Kahan (2023) This was my go-to song this summer for long windows-down drives on a beautiful sunny day. I love the feeling of freedom it gives me to process nostalgia, how fast time goes and how things change, while also accepting that it’s a good thing. |
| Carleen Loney – Graphics Editor“Self Care” by Mïrändä (2021) An absolute bop! Poppy, vibrant, and sweet, this song is all about slowing down the pace of your life. For me, my summer was a weird blend of high-stress-constantly-busy-workaholic-central so I needed a reminder to take a breath and just lay in the sun. Never feel bad about taking care of yourself!! |
| Casey Kiss – Opinions Editor“Timeless (Taylor’s version) (From the vault)” by Taylor Swift (2023) As a big Taylor Swift fan, I kept up with her tour, album announcements and releases this summer. This was also the first album release my boyfriend got to experience with me and listening to this one got me a little teary-eyed. Itinstantly became a new favourite. |
| Emma Megelas – Co-News Editor“Summer of ‘69” by Bryan Adams (1984) I traveled to Ogunquit, Maine this summer as I’ve done every year since I was young. My mom went there for the first time when she was my age and every time we’d hear this song on the radio, it reminded her of summers in Ogunquit. She dragged me down the rabbit hole of 80s songs and I got hooked on this one from the start. Now every time I think about Ogunquit, I play this song. |
| Stefano Rebuli – Assistant Music Editor “Sprinter” by Dave & Central Cee (2023) From the moment this song dropped on June 1, I loved it and had it on loop for hours. I left for the UK a month later and the song was in constant rotation throughout my trip (both rappers are British). It not only played during the day at Wireless Festival, but I also got to see Central Cee perform it at Osheaga, which further cemented it as my song of the summer. |
| Tabéa Benlakehal – Music Editor “Sasaci Pererê” by Jorge Ben (1986) One of my core moments was spending time with my Brazilian friend in Portugal and notably exchanging with the big Brazilian community there. I am very fond of Brazilian funk (also called funk carioca from its emergence within the favelas in Rio) and MPB so I overplayed the genre a lot— especially this song shared to me by um brasileiro at a hostel. |
