Staff Pix 9/12: Favorites of Summer!

“The One to Wait” by CCFX

The summer I wandered with and without a destination, returned to my childhood home, scratched at persistent mosquito bites I thought would never heal, tried out sun-printing and beamed at the results, tearfully watched snow dust the Swiss alps, dipped my feet into various bodies of water, remembered how good it felt to dance, allowed myself to cry tears of joy, laughter, frustration, held on tight to the present without the fear of letting go, hugged and hugged and hugged some more, paid attention (was astonished, told about it) – was soundtracked by none other than CCFX’s “The One to Wait.” A confession turned proclamation on the weight of choice, the uncertainty of future, the absolute surrender of presence. The song found me on one of my final retreats into dusk in my time spent abroad. It encapsulated my own doubt of the trajectory of the tumultuous first few months of the year and transformed itself into a great resolve parallel with my move back home. It became the backing track for my everyday, dissolving into my subconscious, solidifying into what I can now label as one of my favorite songs… possibly, yes maybe, ever.  — Sophie Parrish

“Self Control” by Frank Ocean

This summer was obsessive. Long intimate playlists and albums always on loop. This Is Lorelei’s Box for Buddy Box for Star served as a soundtrack for long nights and longer travel times and perhaps should contain the track honored with the pick but the cornerstone, the crowning achievement came less than a week ago by the season’s bitter end. I suspect I may be one of the last people on the planet to discover that Blonde by Frank Ocean is one of the greatest albums ever made. As a long time Car Seat Headrest fan I was first and foremost shocked (though of course not really surprised) to see how deeply the record informs Toledo’s own opus Twin Fantasy in style and substance. Despite my indelible love for Toledo and (almost) all he provides I can see why he yearns for Ocean’s skill and simplicity. Self Control is perhaps Blonde’s best offering but no other track is really that far behind. The record is a clean hour: enough for a load of laundry or a train ride from Central Station to Long Island Sound. If you’re like me and had simply “never gotten to it” or “didn’t think it seemed like my vibe” or any other paltry excuse I am begging you, genuinely hands and knees begging you to carve out a sliver of your life for this monument to genre, quiet power, and desperate, desperate love. I promise you won’t regret it. — Declan Ireland

“BEAT UP CHANEL$” by Slayyyter

One of the best things to happen to me over the summer was discovering Slayyyter. From “Brittany Murphy” to “Crank,” her album ‘Worst Girl in America’ (2026) is a masterpiece of the grunge sorcery that is Slayyyter. “BEAT UP CHANEL$” is is a stand-out mantra perfect for summer, saturated in Tumblr nostalgia, “I want beat-up Chanels, I want new personnel / I wanna dye my hair every pretty shade of pastel / I want nasty after parties, banged up at the motel / I want beat-up Chanels, I want somethin’ for real.” — Heather Thorn

“in the aeroplane over the sea” by neutral milk hotel

Arguably most people’s dream summer day is my worst. Rough, coarse sand running through my toes, the scorching hot sun which keeps my eyes in a permanent squint and sweat making my shirt cling onto my back and shoulders; I simply hate it. To combat this decade long beef between me and the beach I’ve tried listening to different music to see if that could uplift my mood in any way. Nothing truly worked but one song did come close, Neutral Milk Hotels’ “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.” As Mangum sings “but for now we are young / let us lay in the sun / and count every beautiful thing we can see,” I slowly got taken aback, unsquint my eyes and realize I let all the parts I hate about the beach shadow the good. My friends, the music, the conversations we have and each other’s laughs. It truly is strange to be anything at all. — Mario Sierra

“Metal Through Her Lips” by Oscar Lindsey

I spent this summer in an unsettling limbo. There was no intense preparation for college the same way there was before my freshman year, but still a strange sense of unease and restlessness. I woke up routinely early to make coffee and feed my cats, basking in the silence of my almost archaic house and encapsulated in my generously decorated bedroom for most hours of the day. On weekends I went to my town’s underrun farmers market, saw my friends whenever I could with our somehow still chaotic schedules, and when I was really bored, I would take the 13 dollar train down my street into NY Penn Station for the day, watching spans of trees and warehouses alternate across the New York metro area oddly wishing that this would be my last summer home. Those rides were exclusively designated for sad little indie playlists, and the song I found myself listening to and replaying the most was Oscar Lindsey’s June single, “Metal Through Her Lips”, which I had been diligently anticipating since he had been posting analog snippets on his Instagram months prior. A fan of Lindsey’s singles since 2022, I knew that my new soundtrack for the summer was already chosen for me. It fell into my lap, it’s simple, innocent scattered piano and guitar-backed lines about some unsophisticated astray 20-something year old girl reflecting bittersweet feelings on those sickly sunny days I spent pressed against a dusty window, “I feel so lost, so crossed / So left and so forgot about.” The track is sweet in its hesitation, so close to giving up but turning around at the very end– a mirror of those brief train rides where every bump on the tracks felt like a punch of ambiguity to my face making me want to stay in the city and never return– but at the end of a long day in the city, I always wanted to come back home and do it all again. — Julia Schramm

“Go!” by iKeda

When I saw a post about UK “bubble riddim” singer iKeda’s single from a mysterious pop culture account, I was absolutely gobsmacked. What was this mix of dancehall with M.I.A. writing and production and Lily Allen-deadpan delivery? Everything in this delightfully bizarre track’s DNA merges to create something truly delicious. The production is batshit crazy and slyly experimental, and iKeda is charismatic enough to pull off a line like “I wanna use that hair to clone myself 30 times / I wanna send my me-army out onto the frontlines.” Essential listening. — Bennett Himmel

“Retro Beauty (Jukebox)” by Pino Donaggio

This summer marked my official move out from the childhood home I grew up in, starting a new chapter at an apartment in Chinatown. One of my favorite things about the new place is that the movie theater is barely a 5-minute walk down the street, which gave me the privilege of getting to see all the new movies that came out this summer including The Odyssey, Backrooms, and, the source of the song that defined my summer ‘26 – Nicolas Winding Refn’s Her Private Hell. While every detail of Pino Donaggio’s score breathes life into the late-night city dreamscape of the film, “Retro Beauty (Jukebox)” immediately struck me as the exact kind of melancholy, addictive, perfectly executed late-night nostalgia ride that I have always obsessed over. In my mind, this song flawlessly captured that esoteric feeling of cool, late nights in Boston, an energy I quickly became intoxicated by after a lifetime in suburbia. The song itself is a gentle jazz ballad complemented with intricately plucked strings and violin, gliding along at a slow, pensive tempo that allows the instrumentals to elegantly creep under your skin. While the initial impression of ‘Retro Beauty’ is melancholic and mysterious, I’ve found that the true beauty of this song is how it can shapeshift into something relaxing, hopeful and transcendental upon relistening, making it a perfect choice for any scenario in which you’re looking to de-stress. When I look back on this summer, “Retro Beauty (Jukebox)” will always be playing faintly in the corner of my brain, the perfect soundtrack for reminiscing on my first few months watching movies and getting acquainted with the city as a newly-instated Boston resident. — Diego Gonzalez

“BB Gun” by Eilish Constance

For a few weeks this summer, Eilish Constance’s EP “Singing for Fun” became  part of my everyday listening. I would listen on the way to work, on the speakers at work, on my way back home from work and it still wouldn’t be enough. “Hold my hand hunter” and “BB Gun” easily became my favorites off the EP. The combination of the songwriting and production makes this song emotional and catchy. “You were my lucky charm / half my heart / Trap me in the trailer park / Shot me with your BB Gun “. I saw her perform one evening while the sun was setting in the New York skyline and I was immediately hooked by her charm and style and I can’t wait to hear her new music. — Shruthi Krishnakumar