From May to August, a lot of things are happening. The summer season is the time of being active. I spent my summer going to the gym, hitting the beach, working and going on road trips with my family. I was always up to something new and different every day. My lifestyle for the summer was to say “Why not?” rather than “Why?” One of my favorite memories from this summer was going to Firefly Music Festival in Dover, DE. I saw so many different music groups and that really diversified my palette for music. I enjoy almost every genre of music.
Depending on what I was doing, my music choice was different. I never stuck to one genre of music. As random my summer was, so was my music choice. I listened to anything from Sam Hunt to A$AP Rocky and everything in between. The music I listened to was new and old. The five albums that were most consistent in my headphones this summer is diverse. So, looking back on my summer, these are the albums that defined my summer.
1. "Brightside" - Aer
This album was Aer’s debut album back in 2012, but these songs are meant to be listened to in the summer. Their style of music is interesting because they're under the genre of rap, but have reggae and pop influences, as well. The songs that most resonated with me this summer are “Floats My Boat,” “Like the Way,” and “Songbird.” All three of them speak to the carefree mentality of younger adults and have that feel-good beat that keeps your head subliminally bobbing. There is a mix of mellow rhymes and upbeat flow that are perfect songs for a day at the beach.
2. "Talking Is Hard" - Walk the Moon
Before this summer, Walk the Moon never showed up on my iPod. They were one of the groups that really fell in love with when I saw them live at Firefly. The mood of their music also is attractive to young adults like Aer, but in a different way. The well-known hit that they have is “Shut Up and Dance.” This song is upbeat alternative rock that actually makes you want to (no pun intended) shut up and dance. I like Walk the Moon so much because of their versatility. They have songs that are upbeat and alternative, but also some that more associated with Indie rock. They bring influences from 80’s rock, which was something I really loved hearing too.
3. "Montevallo" - Sam Hunt
Summer would not have been complete without country music. Those two things go together very well. If we did not have summer, country artists would not have much to sing about. My favorite artist of the summer probably was Sam Hunt because of his masterpiece, which was his debut album, "Montevallo." From start to finish, the album had always belting out the lyrics in my car with the windows down. Hunt has a style of country music that is non-traditional. He twists regular country with some R&B style to it, which is a bold move, but I think that is why "Montevallo" was probably my favorite album of the summer because of its uniqueness.
4. "Gold" - Sublime
One of the classics of the 90s still is alive in my iPod. Sublime has some of the greatest hits in my opinion because of their ability to bring in acoustic rock and upbeat lyrics. Sublime is another group that jumps around with their style. They switch between rock, rap and reggae influences. “What I Got” is my favorite song because they show with their versatility that “What I Got” can sound just as good in a reprised form. This album is diverse and full of jams. So many that they took up two discs!
This was just a taste of my iPod this summer, but I can assure you that these albums will not be thrown into the archives any time soon. They are songs that can be listened to whenever and that’s why I enjoy them. Also, my summer was not just limited to these genres of music. If there is something that every music lover should do that is discover music new and old and diversify what they listen to because you will be surprised what you will find!
