The Art of Creating Your Summer Playlist.
Now, I’m aware that it’s only January, but time is passing us by at a concerning rate so it’s good to be prepared! Plus, you don’t want to get to summer and have nothing ready and find yourself scrambling together whatever songs you see fit. Playlisting is an important skill to have, this is no time to mess around. It’s life or death (not really but you get the point).
I’m going to break down my thought process when I create my summer playlist and hopefully, you can take some inspiration! Obviously, there is no right or wrong way to consume music; only my way.
For context, I usually enjoy background noise when I’m going to sleep, so it's common that I’ll put on a playlist at low volume before dozing off. There was one morning that I awoke to Japanese producer Piper’s 1983 record, ‘SUMMER BREEZE’. I had known and enjoyed the song prior, but new imagery had conjured in my mind in this instance. Suddenly, I had visions of blue skies, boat trips with warm breezes hitting my face, and clearer vision of what I want my summer to be.
I immediately knew it was time to create my summer playlist when this occurred. I began to find other songs in my catalogue that evoked the same feelings and images, with hopes of creating a coherent playlist over several genres, and slowly but surely, I acquired many other songs that fit the same vibe and others that created different images, acting as final pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to complete the bigger picture. For example, I chose Gilberto Gil’s 1981 record ‘Palco’ because it had me imagine being in a bright apartment with the windows open, allowing the sun’s light to fill the room and heating the exposed furniture; a different visualisation, yet contributes to forming a broader picture. After a while, you can begin to connect the dots with the vibe you want to make. Other examples in this playlist include:
OH TENGO SUERTE, Masayoshi Takanaka (1976)
Papel Machê, João Bosco (1984)
Sam the Samba Man, The Rah Band (1983)
Who Loves the Sun, Jo.Ke - Nu (2011)
As I mentioned previously, sticking to a certain genre should be avoided in this situation. Think of it as a wine pairing with a dish; when combined, they only end up complimenting each other. In this playlist, the main genres would be yacht rock, reggae, bossa nova and house music. I believe that these genres can work well making sure to alternate between songs!
If you want to go into even more detail, you can introduce a colour palette for your playlist, even fabrics! For me, I can see this playlist as a variety of blues, creams, beiges and greens. Fabrics would include linen pants, 100% cotton shirts (stripes are a plus) and any type of leather Birkenstock footing (I know it’s far-fetched but listen, it works for me).
So, in summary, I believe the best and most efficient way to create your summer playlist is to first envision the vibe and images you want from the summer. Next, flick through your music catalogue and see if any songs immediately fill these requirements. I also find using Spotify’s recommended option to be a great way to expand your music taste and find similar records. Before you know it, your ideal summer playlist will be ready for you to use!
The next obstacle you face is this playlist might not fit other summer situations. Depends on who you are, but I personally don’t want to listen to a jazz record from 1987 at prinks, getting ready for a night out. My advice is to use the same procedure above but just have different scenarios created. With that, genres can switch to more pop, house, techno and rap;! Simple science.
Now, I’m fully aware people just throw songs together, and that is equally good! I just happen to love music to the point where I love organising all the songs I have! If you’re any bit like me, I hope this method can help you curate your ideal summer playlist, and if you have your own ways, let me know! I’ll leave a link to my summer playlist on Spotify for you all to either enjoy or judge xx.
