It’s that time of year: summer playlists are being curated for 2024, and we have the best recommendations. Pop artists have been releasing albums and singles all year, so there is plenty to choose from.

Pop Stars Release Summer Tracks All Year Long

In March, Ariana Grande released her seventh studio album, eternal sunshine, which includes fun songs using samples of popular late ’90s R&B tracks. “true story” features instrumentation heavily influenced by the metal bass and iconic late ’90s bounce in pop and R&B music. “the boy is mine” features a sample using R&B singers Brandy and Monica’s 1998 hit song of the same name. The two make a cameo appearance as news anchors reporting on the rat crisis in Grande’s playful music video.

Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department came out in April, with loyal Swifties patiently waiting for the double album to drop. The singer-songwriter’s 31-song album features guest appearances from Post Malone and Florence + The Machine. Her album, unsurprisingly, was met with high praise by fans.

Then, in May, Dua Lipa released her third studio album with the ’70s-inspired psychedelia Radical Optimism. The pop superstar already released singles “Houdini” and “Training Season” ahead of the release, and the rest of the record features more summer staples.

A few weeks later, Billie Eilish released her highly-anticipated third studio album HIT ME HARD AND SOFT. The instrumentation of the album is different from what fans are used to, with the addition of synthesizers. Prior to the album’s release, Eilish announced to her fans that she was “not doing singles i wanna give it to you all at once.”

That same day, actress-turned-pop star Kate Hudson debuted her first studio album with Glorious.

By the time June hit, both Meghan Trainor and Charlie xcx released studio albums on the same day with Timeless and brat, respectively. Trainor’s sixth studio album features T-Pain on the track “Been Like This,” and the two shared their mutual adoration for each other prior to the song’s release. Charlie’s album was highly rated by critics and fans alike and filled with summer hits.

Meanwhile, pop artist Sabrina Carpenter announced her sixth studio album, Short n’ Sweet, to be released on August 23rd. Lorde teased that her fourth album is coming soon with a cryptic spit post.

See the best pop songs of Summer 2024 below:

• Please Please Please -- Sabrina Carpenter

  Following the major success of Carpenter’s “Espresso” earlier this year, the pop star dropped another song perfect for the summer with “Please Please Please.” The music video is even more of a summer vibe, with Carpenter warning her beau, Barry Keoghan to not make an embarrassment out of her. The playful song features the iconic lines, “Heartbreak is one thing, my ego’s another. I beg you, don’t embarrass me, motherf—er.”

• 365 -- Charlie xcx

  The English singer-songwriter’s latest album, brat, is a summer vibe in and of itself. However, if we had to pick just one for our summer playlist, it would be the album’s closing track, “365.” Charlie kicks off the album with a track called “360,” so we love how she goes full-circle in ending the record with “365.” The track is truly a club banger for hardcore partiers, with lyrics alluding to doing hard drugs, as well as bumping fire tracks. The lyrics include lines: “No, I’ll never go home. Don’t sleep, don’t eat, just do it on repeat. Keep bumping that.”

• CHIHIRO -- Billie Eilish

  For those who are emo, but still want to have a chill summer track to add to their playlist, this track off of Billie’s HIT ME HARD AND SOFT ticks off all those boxes. As soon as you hear the lines, “Open up the door, can you open up the door?” you can’t help but sing and dance along with the funky bass and keyboards. The track is layered with Billie’s voice echoing, as well as the use of a synthesizer and glockenspiel, making it one of those songs we constantly play on repeat.

• Million Dollar Baby -- Tommy Richman

  This Tommy Richman track is about to take over airwaves all summer long. “Million Dollar Baby” hits every time, with Richman’s falsetto voice proclaiming, “I ain’t never rep a set, baby, I ain’t do no wrong. I could clean up good for you, oh, I know right from wrong. ‘Cause I wanna make it so badly, I’m a million dollar baby.” Just released in April, the funk-tastic track infuses R&B with synths and a bouncy bass line, making it a perfect feel-good song for all ages to enjoy.

• To The Moon -- Meghan Trainor

  Trainor’s latest album, Timeless, features her generic-sounding doo-wop/bubble-gum pop sound, but “To The Moon” is a completely different vibe. As the album’s opening track, “To The Moon” kicks off with a violin and gives major Amy Winehouse vibes. Trainor sings in a sultry voice, “The girl of your dreams… Baby, that’s me. I’m out of this world, no gravity.” When the chorus comes in, the beat amps up into a trap beat, which gets you dancing.

• Illusion -- Dua Lipa

  Though “Houdini” is our favorite track off the pop icon’s Radical Optimism album, “Illusion” has summer written all over it. The song’s lyrics, “Ooh, what you doin’? Don’t know who you think that you’re confusin’. I be like, “Ooh, it’s amusin’, you think I’m gonna fall for an illusion,” includes both a reference to her “Houdini” theme as well as the illusions you see in a desert, like a mirage. The music video completely embodies the type of summer we all wish to have, chilling at a pool with a bunch of hotties surrounding us.

• TEXAS HOLD 'EM -- Beyoncé

  Beyoncé’s genre-blending track from her country-pop album features this super-fun track for the summer! Immediately when the song starts, you are hooked to join in on the ad-libs after Bey sings, “This ain’t Texas (woo), ain’t no hold ’em (hey!). So lay your cards down, down, down, down.” You best believe we try to remember the square-dancing moves we learned in elementary school to give “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” the country flair it deserves.

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