Songs of the Summer

What will the song of the summer be?

Our resident music expert Mark Brown gives his predictions for the best songs of the summer. Roll over the words in blue to get a definition of their meaning.

Every summer the same thing happens without fail: one song comes from nowhere and is transformed into an all-conquering monster that takes over the radio and sticks in your brain, refusing to budge until Autumn comes. Remember this time last year, for example, when nobody was safe from “Party Rock Anthem” by LMFAO? It got to the point where, somehow, it didn’t feel quite right unless it was blaring out of someone’s radio, CD player, TV or iPod.  So, we’re looking ahead and wondering what’s going to be a big summer anthem this year – we’ve chosen a handful of contenders below.

Alabama Shakes – Hold On

This one’s been around for a while, of course, but Alabama Shakes are a great band– we’re expecting this to be huge this summer. Swaggering, southern-fried rock doesn’t come much finer, ladies and gentlemen. So if your tastes run more to rock than pop then this could be your thing!

Maroon 5 – Payphone

Maroon 5 have had one of the biggest hits in the last few years with their last single, ‘Moves Like Jagger’ and now they’re back with the follow-up. It doesn’t lend itself to club soundsystems as much as its predecessor but we think you’re going to hear this everywhere anyway.

Pond – ‘You Broke My Cool’

Pond, with their sun-kissed, psychedelic tunes, are so perfectly suited to soundtracking your summer memories that it’s hard to believe they weren’t assembled like robots by some marketing team. But they weren’t, of course, and ‘You Broke My Cool’ just happens to be one of the most impressive pop songs we’ve heard in ages.

The Cribs – ‘Glitters Like Gold’

The Cribs already look like they’re going to be huge in 2012, so why should the summer be any different? ‘Glitter Like Gold’ is perhaps the highlight of their new CD – all skyscraping guitars and euphoria. Perfect for those late night festival moments.

Rihanna – ‘Where have you been’

Rihanna is back with the music video for her latest single ‘Where Have You Been’. She’s been omnipresent for the last year – expect to hear this burning up the charts and dancefloors across the whole hemisphere this summer. Blessed with a twinkling melody and a killer chorus, it has huge keyboards to boot.