Back-to-school season may be just around the corner, but it’s still technically summer another month. Here are the songs getting heavy rotation in the headphones of the Words & Music editorial team during this year’s sizzling summer days.
Sarah’s picks
CJ Wiley – “backporch”
What is summer for if not lusting? The ‘90s-soaked alt rock and pop “backporch” by CJ Wiley is the perfect addition to any summer soundtrack, especially if you’ve had a crush or two this season. My recommendation? It’s best listened to at least four times in a row while sitting in a wading pool, sipping on a raspberry lemonade, thumbing a back-to-school Sears catalogue, and thinking about your summer hook-up before a September school bell ruins the reverie.
Publisher: Arts & Crafts Publishing
Writer and composition: CJ Wiley and Jesse Turnbull
Producers: Jesse Turnbull
Grand Eugène ft. Freak Heat Waves – “What It Feels Like”
Don’t you know your skin feels different in the nighttime air? “What It Feels Like” by Montréal’s Grand Eugéne is a lo-fi, unfussy tune featuring Freak Heat Waves and sounds like how a bike ride at 2 a.m. in the middle of summer feels. It sounds like a dream you don’t want to wake up from. A good song for the summer doesn’t need to be a loud pop hit. It can sneak up on you, surprise you, and make you remember that you’re alive.
Publisher: GLM Editions / Alter K Canada
Writer and composition: Jeremy Lachance and Steven Lind
Producers: Jeremy Lachance, Steven Lind, Melyssa Lemieux, and Thomas Di Ninno
Magi Merlin – “SpiceKick”
Perhaps you are, like me, not a great dancer, but a great walker. Good music can make an everyday walking experience feel extraordinary. And so, Magi Merlin, the sonic shapeshifting artist from Montréal, delivers a tune that’s great for strutting. “SpiceKick” is one of those songs that comes up on shuffle and, to your own surprise, the concrete beneath your feet becomes a catwalk. Nothing can stop you and that feels powerful. Summer is loud and a little selfish (complimentary!), which is a sentiment perfectly captured on this track from Merlin’s innovative debut.
Publisher: Savoir Faire Publishing
Writer and composition: Magi Merlin and Nader Abouzeid
Producers: Magi Merlin and Funkywhat
Carly Rae Jepsen – “On Wires”
Carly Rae Jepsen is the patron saint of E-MO-TION, and the lead single from her forthcoming double album, Day and Night, gives precisely that. The track, at least for Jepsen, emphasizes that yearning is a state of being. For those of us who also love to yearn—or pine or even desperately ache—for a beloved, this track is catnip. It’s a dramatic and lush song pop; classic with its repetitive, exhilarating chorus of wanting to be more than friends for the week. Something you could emphatically sing into a hairbrush if you wanted to.
Publisher: Warner Chappell Music
Writer and composition: Carly Rae Jepsen, Kyle Shearer, and Nate Cyphert
Producers: Kyle Shearer and Robert Marvin
Drake – “Janice STFU”
Aubrey Graham, like any good Scorpio with time on their hands, likes to think about the past. It’s a gift and maybe a curse for us Scorpios but it is a skill that, in pulling the right thing into the future, can make something old feel fresh again, which is how “Janice STFU” feels to me. I do realize the song was an immediate hit for nearly everyone. While it might be too obvious a pick, that’s sort of why it’s here. This is Drake at his best: he’s the right amount of caustic with cold shots at his detractors but with a nostalgic flair. This time it’s an interpolation of Lykke Li’s “I Follow Rivers,” which was an anthem for many of us now aged Sad Tumblr Girls. Thus, an earworm is born. And after all, summer wouldn’t be summer without at least one Drake song, even if it’s an icy one.
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Canada EMI Music Publishing Scandinavia AB/ R Rated Music / WELLHELLO THERE MUSIC / Kobalt Music Publishing Limited II
Writer: Aubrey Graham
Producer: FNZ, b4u, Rogét Chahayed
Catherine’s picks
Donalda – “C BEN DE VALEUR”
Donalda is the name of a near-mythological figure in Québec: the long-suffering heroine—and something of a proto-feminist—of Claude-Henri Grignon’s novel Un homme et son péché, an iconic work adapted many times for both film and television, and translated into English by Yves Brunelle under the title The Woman and the Miser. Donalda is also the name of the musical duo formed by Florence Lafontaine and Olivier Martin-Fréchette, two artists who draw inspiration from UK garage and techno to bring a breath of fresh air to Québec pop, and it slaps!
Words: Olivier Martin-Fréchette and Florence Lafontaine
Music: Olivier Martin-Fréchette and Florence Lafontaine
Produced by: Olivier Martin-Fréchette and Florence Lafontaine
Publisher: Independant
Shakira (featuring Burna Boy) – “Dai Dai”
Who woulda thunk? 2026’s global song of the summer comes straight out of Montréal. Created by Alexander (A.C) and Vanesa Castillo Vasquez, a brother-and-sister duo from the city’s Saint-Michel neighbourhood, Dai Dai stands out for its innovative rhythmic approach and truly international sound. After all, its lyrics are in Italian, Spanish, English, French and Japanese… which is hardly a problem—quite the opposite—for a linguistic chameleon like Shakira.
//Suggested Read: The Remarkable Destiny of Alexander (A.C) Castillo Vasquez
Lyrics and music: Alexander (A.C) Castillo Vasquez, Vanesa Castillo Vasquez (VNSA), Benny Adam*
Publisher: 14e Avenue / Coyote Records / St. Laurent TV / Joy Ride Records
*Only SOCAN members are listed
Les Louanges – “La journée va être chaude”
A lot of water has flowed under the Québec and Pierre Laporte bridges since the Lévis native broke through by singing the praises of a Toyota Tercel. With Alouette, his latest album, Vincent Roberge confirms his status as a politically engaged artist. Among the 15 tracks on the new record is this catchy song, with its irresistible groove and all the makings of a good Trojan horse: a party anthem on the surface, an apocalyptic banger at its core. It is a musical illustration of the tangible, perceptible effects of climate change.
Words: Vincent Roberge
Music: Vincent Roberge and Félix Petit
Produced by: Vincent Roberge and Félix Petit
Publisher: Third Side Music et Les éditions Bonsound
Robert Robert – “Kia Rio”
With its ethereal, slightly melancholic sound, Robert Robert’s electro-pop is the sonic embodiment of summer. Kia Rio makes you want to hit the open road and leave the city behind in the least pretentious vehicle imaginable—because it’s not the destination (or the car) that matters, but the journey. Honestly, at this point, car-sharing service Communauto—which has an impressive fleet of Kia Rios—should make this track its anthem, or at least its advertising jingle.
//Suggested Watch: Robert Robert presents BOOST
Lyrics and music: Arthur Alexis Gaumont Marchand et Benoit Parent
Publisher: Independant
Carly Rae Jepsen – “After All”
Carly Rae Jepsen simply can’t write a bad song; few of her peers understand the language of pop as well as she does. Delicate throughout the verses, with Carly’s soft vocals and an acoustic guitar riff, After All transmogrifies into something that’s nearly a disco tune in the choruses, delivering a big dose of dopamine in the process. Special mention goes to the slightly gospel-tinged bridge, which gives the listening experience an almost spiritual dimension. Can’t wait for her new album, out September 18.
Lyrics and music: Nate Cyphert, Carly Rae Jepsen, Kyle Michael Shearer
Publishers: Universal Music Publishing Canada, Concord Sounds, Jepsen Music Publishing, Universal Music Corporation, Hell Yeah Brother Music