




How you feelin’? Got some anxiety? Feel like it’s the end of the world? Need a summer anthem to pour your emotions into?
If what you want isn’t more crushingly common bro country, there are righteous Song of the Summer contenders without lyrics about a dude drinking to avoid confronting his failings.
Here are songs from spring crashing into summer with something to say and the beats to back it up.
“Anxiety,” Doechii
“Anxiety” still hasn’t peaked (on the charts or in our hearts).
Underpinned by a “Somebody That I Used to Know” sample, new rap queen Doechii’s tune has roots in 2019, another anxious age.
Her reworked version from the spring has climbed as high as No. 9 in June.
As its infectious message, hip hop hook, gentle-against-forceful thump, radiates further into the zeitgeist expect it be heard everywhere.
Choice righteous rhyme: “Court order from Florider/What’s in that clear blue water?/No limits, no borders/What’s in that new world order?”
“Man of the Year,” Lorde
Lorde’s latest is more of a wonderful, three-minute crescendo than a song. What begins almost like a spoken word piece slowly rises to a big vocal, then climbs to a big swell of synths, until it arrives at full club jam (for about 40 seconds before crashing out).
Driving the elevation are Lorde’s lyrics about, well, bluntly, transforming into the “Man of the Year.” She’s described the personal track as “an offering from really deep inside me” and the song she’s most proud of on her June 27-due album, “Virgin.”
“End of the World,” Miley Cyrus
Miley’s latest single made a splash in April. With Miley’s new album, “Something Beautiful,” out late last month and her companion film playing in theaters last week, the song will get more juice. Powered by a buoyant Europop beat, the tune aims for dreamy escapism with the refrain, “Let’s pretend it’s not the end of the world.”
We can try but 2025 came in like a wrecking ball.
“Catch These Fists,” Wet Leg
There’s not enough punk energy out there. Wet Leg agrees. “Catch These Fists” is a rant, a grating noise, a laid back boogie, a too-cool-for-school dis, a punk jam. The British rock band’s first single from the July-due LP “Moisturizer” has a retro vibe with decidedly 2025 energy. When Wet Leg isn’t indifferently, offhandedly singing, “We’re on our way to the club/Stupid is, stupid does,” they are shouting, “I don’t want your love, I just wanna fight.” Agreed, on all accounts.
“Latina Foreva,” Karol G
Reggaeton forever for sure. On top of an expected-if-welcome beat and synth line, Karol G lets the world know that curves ain’t just for NASCAR and heavenly bodies extend beyond NASA. Naturally, the Columbia mega-mega-mega star does it in Spanish. Basically, this is one long Latina pride anthem. Well, not that long. It’s two-and-a-half minutes so no need for a club edit.