Summer Soundtrack 2023

The days (and most nights) are warm, the critters and plants seem very industrious, and the Memorial Day holiday has arrived; the solstice isn’t for another few weeks, but it sure feels like summer. No matter what your plans are — a trip to the beach, a trip to the library, a trip to the club — you need a soundtrack. The Scene’s music scribes have a playlist of 2023 Nashville summer jams for you, and we’ve shared notes on some of our favorite tracks.

Margo Price feat. Sharon Van Etten, “Radio”

This song from Price’s latest LP Strays is about freedom — specifically, from the expectations of others and how they can drown out your needs. “Radio” is an anthemic declaration of personal independence, with an electronic heartbeat that feels positively slinky and a new whistle-worthy melody at every turn. If you’ve planned a trek that’s meant to help you recharge so you can show up for yourself and others the way you want to, crank this one up. STEPHEN TRAGESER

The Minks, “Feelin’ Good”

With its undeniable rhythm and sunny, upbeat message, it’s hard to imagine a song being a more appropriate theme for the summer than “Feelin’ Good” from The Minks’ new album Creatures of Culture. Drummer Dylan Sevey kicks off the track with a snare roll, then bassist Justin Pellecchia joins in on a groove so fat, funky and in-the-pocket it’s impossible to remain still. Lead guitarist Ben Giesecke plays some softly ringing notes to introduce the band’s bluesy lead vocalist Nikki Barber, who delivers a perfect mantra for a summer day or evening: “I’m feeling good / I’m feeling fine / You can try and try, but you won’t steal my shine / Because I’m feeling good.” 

And that’s just the first 40 seconds. From there, it’s a full-blown funk-rock jam highlighted by Barber’s cosmic lyrics and Giesecke’s seriously expressive riffing and soloing. Producer Robbie Crowell adds swirling, trippy B3 throughout and saxophone on the swinging outro. Alicia Gail joins Barber and Pellecchia on the soulful backing vocals. This joint is a party, and you’re invited. DARYL SANDERS

Joy Oladokun feat. Noah Kahan, “We’re All Gonna Die”

As Isaac Asimov wrote: “Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition that’s troublesome.” I believe that’s what Joy Oladokun and Noah Kahan are getting at in “We’re All Gonna Die” from Oladokun’s April release Proof of Life. It’s a friendly reminder that not a damn one of us will get the answers to our burning questions before our lights go out. 

All this talk of death and a troublesome journey might make it sound like this song is not a summery bop made for windows-down backroads cruisin’, but it absolutely is. Oladokun begins the song searching: “These days, something’s always turnin’ into / Nothin’ will change, I’m just tryin’ to find a / Way up when I’m down.” Kahan adds a verse all about the maneuvers we take to make ourselves look like we do have answers: “It’s bullshit / Don’t it make me sound / Sort of wise?” In the chorus, Oladokun and Kahan come to terms with the inevitable, singing, “We’re all gonna die trying to figure it out.” The song begs to be screamed with a group of your closest friends in the open air — we’re all in this together, after all. AMANDA HAGGARD

Miley Cyrus, “Violet Chemistry”

Songwriting refreshes itself endlessly from those same basic, primal elements of the chromatic scale. But keeping that in mind, a song that brings together Mike Will Made-It, Jesse Shatkin and Sia has unexpected pop possibilities, and in the mad-scientist hands and voice of Miley Cyrus, “Violet Chemistry” is the kind of stealth smash that sneaks up you. The drum loop that emerges in the chorus — evocative of both New Order’s “1963” and Us3’s “Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)” — sets the vocative plea of “Stay awhile with me,” question mark elided, apart from the three different moods (and beats) “Violet Chemistry” takes us through. It serves as both a thesis statement and a thematic megamix for Cyrus’ Endless Summer Vacation, understanding the way that circumstance plays fucked-up games with where any emotional path can lead. 

Theoretically, every song does that — or at least it should. But “Violet Chemistry” pulls off something akin to that monolithic statue of Jesus at Christus Gardens in Gatlinburg, the one that’s looking at you no matter where you’re standing in the room. The horny triumph of potential, the comforting and perpetual inertia we call routine, the holding close of what’s slipping away; “Violet Chemistry” is there for wherever you are in that three-way dialectic. And it bangs, smooth and electronic, warm and conciliatory with the kind of confidence that can only come from knowing your hooks take no prisoners. Sometimes the right mood is determined by the stereo; seeking the abjection of verbal silence when those words don’t quite encompass that wave of emotions. Pop music can make the ephemeral eternal, an everlasting commemoration of love — or something like it — at the club or bar or boudoir, when those harsh lights hit you like a ton of bricks. JASON SHAWHAN

Spencer Cullum, “Kingdom Weather”

Your toes sink into cold sand as a breeze ruffles your hoodie. While the sun rises over the steady crashing waves, you take a drag from that one-hitter you bought for Bonnaroo ’08. These are peak vacation experiences, and they embody the vibe that Spencer Cullum brings to “Kingdom Weather,” a prime cut from the wake ’n’ bake record of the summer: the second installment of his Coin Collection series. 

Evoking the soft-psych of ’70s surf-film soundtrackers like G. Wayne Thomas and Daryl “The Captain” Dragon with a dash of Stereolab’s motorik-meets-shoegaze explorations stirred in, Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collection 2 features the songsmith and steelist enlisting lots of friends to explore heady territory with a sense of awe and wonder. When it’s time for an early-morning smoke amid the gentle sounds of nature stirring, Cullum and his pals — on this track, that’s guest vocalist Yuma Abe and guitarist Sean Thompson — are the perfect company. SEAN L. MALONEY

Brian Brown, “NBA Jam”

Stellar rapper Brian Brown’s EP Two Minute Drill is an exercise in the creative possibilities of limitations, with all four tracks clocking in under two minutes. Even so, none of the songs feels pressured or rushed, and opening number “NBA Jam” is perhaps the most chill. Riding a beat built around a melancholy soul sample, Brown takes stock of strange times in the city he’s called home all his life. He’s advocating calm attention, awareness and appraisal — a useful perspective to have as we head into what’s shaping up to be a long, hot, weird summer. STEPHEN TRAGESER