Reheat the heatwave...

Summer of Lovers 2018

It's hot. Heatwave hot. If you're in the back of the car, scoot over. If you're on the edge of the pool, hop in. If you're swinging low-to-the-ground in some hammock with your arse brushing against the dusty floor, this one's for you. Serve chilled.

Sixpack by JEFF The Brotherhood
An anthem of sweat and beers.
— Owen

Today is the Day by Yo La Tengo (Summer Sun version)
Try not to imagine standing on a cliff, looking out over a golden sunset with this playing in your ears. Just don't read the lyrics, they will make you cry.
— Owen (how come he gets two in??!)

Summertime by Dj Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
Always reminds me of the relaxed carefree days of my youth!
— Ellie

Gabriel (Live Garage Remix) by Roy Davis Jr and Peven Everett
Reminds me of gloriously sunny days driving around in my brother’s first car and rooftop parties in Nottingham. I haven’t thought about it in ages. Gonna have a listen now actually.
— Rida

Hot, Hot, Hot by The Merrymen
I had this song on cassette tape but also remember CBBC adopting it as their theme song one summer mid-90's (performed by Otis the Aardvark). Ever since, if the temperature outside is remotely hot I'll get this stuck in my head. It can be annoying but at least it gets my hips jiggling!
— Hattie

Chateau Rouge by Fennesz
Venice was Fennesz's first, slightly darker album after his 2001 classic ‘Endless Summer’. Chateau Rouge is a highlight: soaked in turquoise blues, a sizzling heat and the buzz of a thousand dragonflies. The grain and texture of Fennesz’s production heralds each and every summer for me.
— Kia

Positive Vibration (Live) by Bob Marley & The Wailers
This was given to me by my uncle in Trinidad one summer. We played it in his pickup truck around the island, my home from home. When I could drive this became the soundtrack to our clapped out Micra’s “Jah Love” journeys.
— Geoff

Mi Amor by Plastic Mode
A recent discovery, a cheesy Italo disco banger that I've unashamedly played on repeat all summer. I was in Italy earlier this summer so to me this song is the soundtrack of road-tripping through Tuscany and nights of endless Campari spritzes! I find it physically impossible not to dance.
— Phoebe

Black and White by The dB's
I heard this song two summers ago and for some reason it's still my *summer song*. The lyrics are not happy or summery at all, but the whole song has such a cool tempo, it makes me feel like I'm driving to the beach. It's grey here today by the way.
— Bráulio

Sun Goddess by Earth, Wind and Fire
A recurring sound track to holidays lounging around the pool with friends.
— Dan C

E Street Shuffle by Bruce Springsteen
My memories of this song are of endlessly playing it on summer holiday drives. I also got a kick from my dad thinking the tape player was eating the tape when the band speeds up at the end. Every single time.
— Alex C

Present, Tense by Martha
Not just because it's pop music that references anarchist thinkers, but because there's an overwhelming sense of hope and optimism that, even when I'm on a cramped commute to work or in an unheated village hall in Brighton in the middle of December, manages to make me feel as if I'm sat in the sun with a gentle sea breeze.
— Tommy

Hypnotized by Fleetwood Mac
I don’t think there’s any other song that was made for desert drives or poolside cigarettes as much as this track. It’s just pure sex and reverb.
— Joss

Wave by Oscar Peterson
My friend Luke was very excited when he realised he was introducing me to Oscar Peterson. We were right on the cusp of summer, standing outside at Netil Radio when he handed me a CD, perfectly named: Motions and Emotions. It’s been the perfect album for chilling out to at any moment of the day. The last minute and a half demonstrate some of the best piano I have ever heard.
— Ollie

Bella Ciao by Bella Ciao
I can only bare to listen to this song in the summer. My friend made a playlist for a summer trip to the Italian Island of Patelleria. We played this non-stop, by the end of the week we couldn’t bare it. But if I listen to it on a hot sunny day, I can literally taste pizza.
— Hannah

Mystery of Love by Mr. Fingers
It's a rolling, rippling bucket and spade of fun, I defy you to sit still when it's on!
— Jo T

Sunny Afternoon by The Kinks
This may be a bit of an obvious choice, but it reminds me of a very specific day... the first day of summer holidays after my GCSE's. I was sitting in my parents' living room with one of my best mates, we were so excited and full of expectation for the long summer ahead, and the rest of our lives. An advert for some sort of cider came on the TV with this song. We immediately went out and bought some tinnies of cider. It's been summer for me ever since.
— Luke M

Test Match Special by David Moore
The dulcet tones of messers Agnew, Boycott and Marks. The first day of the first test at Lords, leather hitting willow. That’s music mate.
— Alex H

C'est toujours comme ça l'amour by Toulouse
Need the Buckfast on ice for this one. The sun doesn't come out much in Glasgow, so anything that gives a Vitamin D fix to my ears I'm generally in love with. Those french vocals, ooh la la!
— Jamie

The Lovers are here and they're full of sweat by Jonathan Richman
JR’s hissy, swaying portrayal of a gaggle of debilitatingly-sensitive types (he doesn’t count how many) sounds like summer wrapped in nylon string. Defiant yet deeply vulnerable, when all’s said and done the Lovers’ virtues outweigh their shortcomings (“of course they smell a little”).
— Alex O

Got It Good by KAYTRANADA ft Craig David
This song is basically a strong breeze on the hottest day of the year; cool, fresh and essential. Summer wouldn't be as fun without it.
— Pam

Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) by Arcade Fire
Summer to me is always associated with driving. Last minute road trips with friends and family. Everyone piling in. Windows down (no air con!), hair all over the place and epic playlists! Arcade Fire epitomises that feeling and this particular song is from a mixtape (!) I had in my car from my first summer living in Japan.
— Kerensa

Drippy Eye by Black Moth Super Rainbow
When I went road tripping around the States with my girlfriend after I finished college we burned a whole bunch of CDs to play in my Chevrolet Impala, this album had just come out the year before I graduated and I was obsessed with it. Must’ve played it 100+ times while driving around in that car. It’s the perfect song for cruising around the southwest, New Mexico and Nevada, with broken A/C. It’s music that sounds like it’s been left out in the desert sun.
— Spencer

The Bomb! by Kenny Dope, The Bucketheads
This song reminds me of being a kid in the car with mum. When I was young I couldn’t work out the lyrics and so made up my own: “Peas and pudding in my mooouuthhh”... but as I got older, and more into music, I realised this was hilariously wrong.
— Lauren

Liquidator by Harry J Allstars
The summer before I started art foundation I bought a Mojo magazine with a free CD attached called Trojan Explosion. It was my introduction to Reggae and we played it to death. I could probably have picked any song from this, they were all bangers.
— Paul K

Buggin' Out by Tribe Called Quest
After long summer's days of building dirt Jumps down at an abandoned quarry not far from my mate Ed's house, we would weave home in the evening sun and rap this track. We knew every word, life was simple.
— Nick

Bam Bam by Sister Nancy
When I was moving about the states a friend used to send me a monthly mix tape. I remember getting one just as I arrived in San Antonio and spending the rest of the day with this on repeat wandering up and down a river that felt like Center Parks.... surreal.
— Dan P

Sawtooth EKG by Daedelus
This song screams summer for me as it reminds me of the days during college when the intense heat was constantly slapping my face whilst running for my life every morning, trying to catch a bus that appears every 1-2 hrs.
— Sheyi

The Pedigree by Dean Blunt
I just remember doing one of my very first internships after university at the end of summer and having a really similar taste in music to one of the guys I was working for. He introduced me to this artist and it's been one of my favourites ever since.
— George

Crazy in Love by Beyoncé ft Jay Z
I have a summer birthday and It reminds me of my 15th, where we played this song relentlessly at my party, dancing and drinking Barcardi Breezers! And we continued to listen to it all summer.
— Amy

La femme d'argent by Air
As the years go by and my listening habits change, nothing says summer to me more than downtempo electronica from the late 90's to early 2000's. This particular song I remember playing for take off on summer holiday flights, being taken away to sunnier places.
— Ben

Good Name by William Onyeabor
I discovered this one few years ago. It's very happy and very long (could be that precious 'trip to the bathroom' track for any DJ!) It's just so groovy and also beautifully naive, a Summer anthem! Every time I put it on, it makes me 10 times happier! It's an important part of Chloe's playlist too (18-month old DJ insists on taking it out of the sleeve and putting it on a record player by herself). Cannot even imagine how William Onyeabor managed to record such a gem, making music between fulfilling his duties as a High Chief of Nigerian tribe and a semolina businessman!
— Olga

LDN by Lily Allen
It takes me back to 2006 which was was actually the year my parents decided to leave London, dragging my moody teenage self with them. Devastated, I made my way back to the capital a few summers later because when the sun is shining here it’s hard to imagine being anywhere else.
— Olivia

(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay by Otis Redding
Best track on the cassette of soul classics my parents used to play endlessly on long summer car journeys, my sister and singing (and whistling) along in the back. Soulful, laidback and melancholy as summer itself. Listen carefully and you can even hear the tide roll away...
— Sally

Spring Vacation by The Beach Boys
The beach boys always remind me of school days, singing in the car with my little brother, being young and carefree. They are the essence of summer, sand and radical surf duuude! They always make me feel happy.
— Ally

Silent Days by Idris Ackamoor, The Pyramids
This isn’t my all time biggest summer track ever, because I’d never be able to choose just one. But it was on heavy rotation a couple of summers ago and I still can’t get enough.
— Patrick

Everybody Loves The Sunshine by Roy Ayres
Reminds me of my youth when my dad played it in our backyard pool in summer time, eating ice cream in the steaming Australian summer sun.
— Grant

I Feel For You by Prince
This crisp upbeat party hit is my summer song. It's the perfect tempo to turn my walk into a strut. Skimming over the immaculate production, Prince's rhythmic delivery of tightly packed harmonies conjure all the giddy feelings of a new relationship.
— Rob

Cruel Summer by Bananarama
Every time I hear it I’m ten again, watching this scene in Karate Kid and getting early twangs of teen summer wistfulness.
— Kieran

Sexual by Neiked ft Dyo
Reminds me of last summer doing 'water aerobics' in the pool in Morocco with friends. Also it's v catchy. Put it on really loud and it will make you happy.
— Lottie

Get Free by Major Lazer
This tune is summer. Every-time I hear the bubbling organ intro and distorted whoops I know the vibes are going to be good. I saw a remarkable cover of it performed by a 100% unassuming teenager with a keyboard at the Old Queen's Head on Essex Road. It was a rainy summer Sunday a few years ago and I realised, I bloody love this song! Ever since then it's been a regular for pre-drinks and dinner parties whenever I want some sunny feeling in the flat.
— Angus

Papua New Guinea by The Future Sound Of London
It's got that rolling summer energy to it and an otherworldly quality to take you somewhere even more tropical and magical.
— Max & Dave

Six Different Ways by The Cure
I was 17/18. I've been kicked out of two different colleges, me and my friends used to be pull all nighters at the pool hall and literally do nothing just drink and play pool. We used to listen to The Cure on repeat but especially this song as it was on the soundtrack to one of our favourite films at the time. But more importantly, this was the summer I decided I didn't want to get kicked out of college anymore and the following term I enrolled myself onto photography.
— Paul P

Let's Go Surfing by The Drums
This song was released when I was the student at high school and it's connected with the strong memories of my friends from from there, my first love and experimentation with alcohol. To me it means freedom, being young, and the summer as well.
— Kristína

I Like It by Cardi B
There’s so many tunes out this summer but I’d dance to this one in the pool! Plus the fact the biggest rapper is an ex stripper latino pregnant woman makes me feel powerful.
— Cristina

Pressure Drop by The Maytals
I love this song from the fab 1970's Jamaican film 'The Harder They Come'. Reggae always sounds like summer. I first remember hearing it blasting from my family's VW campervan as we spent long summers driving around Cornwall. It's one of those songs that's always popped up in my life, like at the Notting Hill Carnival, and Gaz's Rockin Blues (an old school club-night I used to work at).
— Sadie

Pantalón by Kornél Kovács
I first heard it in Barcelona in June 2014 and it will always remind me of that summer. It’s inherent summer-y-ness lies in its sense of escapism. The catchy hook and infectious Spanish (?) vocal samples creating an exotic, intoxicating nostalgia trip to an imaginary 1980's disco somewhere along the mediterranean. Spanish, Balaeric, Greek… dance floors tacky with Sambuca and plenty of pink skin on show. Wherever it is, it’s hot and it’s fun!
— Luke G

My Kind of Woman by Mac DeMarco
Mac DeMarco is the king of laid-back and hazy tunes, and it totally puts me into the default settings for relaxing in the sun.
— Mike

Awake Oh Zion by Twinkie Clark
The recipe for a quality occult Goggelmoggel is quite simple: 2 parts exergy of the past 6 months, 1 part watermelon icicle, 1 part dinosaur yolk mixed with a lunar eclipse, Shaken by an entropic dance twist, Peppered with 6 fallen comets, Served as a summer shower with thunderstorms.
— Kira

Eva by Robson Jorge and Lincoln Olivetti
Pin a tail on the perfect sonic summer and you will land somewhere in the middle of Robson Jorge & Lincoln Olivetti’s 1982 Rio boogie sound masterpiece, Eva. A blend of the finest otic ingredients for the hot months — breezy vocalese, a killer bassline, a dreamy trombone solo...
— Arthur

Day Dreaming by Aretha Franklin
For no other reason than it is a great song to drink cold beer to.
— Lisa

Mechanical by Lemuria
This track epitomises summer in my early 20's and takes me back to camping with friends on the Isle of Wight, running over the hills and beaches.
— Dan P'sly

What a Fool Believes by The Doobie Brothers
From the smoothest decade of all and coolest corner of the globe, the Brothers deliver a funky slice of timeless blissed-out Yacht Rock that struts down Santa Monica boulevard like a moustachioed Magnum PI. If, like I did, you ever visit the Golden State, it’s required listening as you cruise in your drop-top Mustang.
— Adam

June Afternoon by Roxette
It sounds kinda cheesy listening to it now..but when I was 19 and driving through the Dorset countryside on a hot summer's day on the way to the boarding school I was teaching at. I felt like the coolest cat in the world. Listening to it takes me straight back to being in my 1984 gold VW Polo, loading it up on my Sony Mini Disk and feeling the warm sun on my face through the window.
— Alex S

Don't Dream It's Over by Crowded House
Memories of summer drives in my dad's car as a kid, singing along to his favourite songs.
— Immy

Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie
For me personally the song is about not letting yourself be pressured by the narrow mindset of other people. It’s about finding your own way in life, while being compassionate. The energy this song gives me is what I feel during the summer, and what makes me unstoppable.
— Bilgin

Spanish Key by Miles Davis
Picture the scene. The previous day I've eaten at El Bulli, the greatest restaurant on the planet. I've seen and tasted the other side of genius, like a surreal food art dream. Now I'm back in Barcelona, and 10 minutes ago stepped out of Santa Maria del Mar Cathedral after a 30 minute jaw-dropping encounter where frequently I had the urge to take a knee at the scale and wonder of this old vast structure, like Noah's whale. I'm now sitting in late afternoon summer heat, in the small square right beside, with the Barri-Gothic miracle towering above, at a so-simple wine bar, El Vinya del Senor. Top manzanilla, aged manchego, gran reserva iberico ham, sunglasses, people-watching, soaking up the universe and oozing presence.......and Spanish Key by Miles Davis playing in my headphones. In a city of effortless style and swagger, I've never felt cooler than this moment.
— Rhett

Pillow Talk is a string of sweet nothings between , the design collective. More about us at lovers.co

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