Playlist: Chill Jams For The Summer

Though Summer hasn’t officially started, for those of us Southern folk (I’m from Texas), the dead heat of Summer is already upon us. In sitting through it one afternoon last week, I couldn’t help but languish at the hands of an oddly comforting combination of heat, the sound of birds conversing through the trees, and the faint murmur of cars in heavy traffic, racing each other down motionless lanes, just beyond the woods behind my home. I started flipping through my music library (by this I mean Apple Music) in search for a fitting soundtrack to capture this moment. I was looking for something that wasn’t exactly batshit crazy, as is customary of “Summer anthems,” but rather something entirely unassuming yet fulfilling in its entirety. What I was eyeing was music that took its sweet, sweet time to arrive at its second verse. Not because it was indisposed to swift tempos but because the journey demanded it, like the burning temperatures of Summer demand we lazily bask in its glory or retreat into hiding.

That was the inspiration for this playlist, which I have poorly titled Chill Jams For The Summer. This playlist won’t work very well for your next workout session, but if you find yourself just lounging outside this season — as one does while contemplating ice baths, the luxuries of a backyard swimming pool, and snow cones (just me?) — perhaps this collection of songs could help enhance the chill. This playlist is purposefully playful, often ambient, and filled with colorful arrangements. You could also say that it’s transitional in that it gradually shifts from sounding like Spring to Summer. We are, after all, only days away from the summer solstice.

As a special treat, nearly every song, save for a few featured rappers and a sprinkle of supporting vocals, is sung by female leads. You will recognize some of these singers while others I’m hoping will be new to you. Korea’s female voices I feel deserve so much more recognition than they receive and so I’m pleased to be sharing their music, all new and released this year (!), with you with this playlist. It’s not very long, almost exactly an hour in length, seventeen songs total, but it’s effective nonetheless. Your best way to listen to it will be on Apple Music, which I’ve linked to below. Otherwise I did put together a YouTube playlist (also below after the tracklist), although it is worth noting that some of the songs are performed live and aren’t the highest of quality. Also, I couldn’t find one of them because finding obscure Korean songs on YouTube is hard, y’all. Enjoy!

Chill Jams For The Summer | Apple Music (Link)

Tracklist:
“Spring In My Hometown” by The Barberettes
“Dandelion” by Oohyo
“A Biscuit Exists in Nowhere” by Yozoh
“Dizzy” by Echae Kang
“Circle’s Dream” by Subin
“Little Birds” by Hong Haelim (홍혜림)
“Spring Fantasy” by Min Chae
“Donkey (Do What You Love)” By Whale
“Magic Girl” by Baek A Yeon
“Sparkling” by Sumin
“I Wish (Feat. Tiger JK)” by I (아이)
“The Eyes” by Casker
“Ex-Life” by 3rd Line Butterfly
“Diamonds” by Nam Young Joo
“Eclipse” by LOOΠΔ (Kim Lip)
“Palette (Feat. G-DRAGON)” by IU
“Our Night” by Fromm