This month, as summer finally rolls around I thought it was the perfect time to put together my thoughts on how to make the perfect summer playlist. Whether it will be for a BBQ, beach party, roadtrip, festival soundtrack or just something to listen to in your room, summer is the perfect time for an awesome playlist full of great tunes. I think when making a playlist that others will listen to there is a little more pressure to have a varied mix and put together a great selection but personally I just tend to stick to the below pointers for whenever I put together a summer playlist and it usually turns out just fine.
1. Make sure you have a good mix of tracks
I think this one is pretty essential really, when it comes to a good playlist of any kind whether for a wedding, a chilled out day, the gym or whatever, there needs to be a good mix of tracks. Tracks from all genres and all eras, rock meets pop meets electronic meets folk from the 60’s through to the 10’s and back again. Every playlist I have ever made I have stuck to this rule, it’s the easiest thing to follow and remember and in my opinion it makes all the difference between a substandard pop playlist full of current acts you could hear on the radio or a great playlist with a good mix of sounds from all walks of life and times gone by.
2. Add in at least one massive dance track
Summer and dance music go hand in hand quite brilliantly. As the sun is shining whether you are in a festival field or the beach, the faster the bpm, the better. So if you are making a summer playlist that it seems a total no brainer to put in at least one huge dance track. To reall start a party and make your guests want to dance, then a big dance track whether a recent release or an old school classic will go down like an absolute treat.
3. Include something hazy and chilled out
I don’t know what it is about summer but hazy, chilled out tracks just sound so much better in the heat of the summer. Particularly as the sun is going down late into the evening, some laid back sounds like ‘Spanish Sahara’ by Foals, with a cocktail in hand and your best friends around you sounds like utter heaven. I think it probably is that heat that makes us lazy with it that makes me particularly crave the drawn out beats, but I know I will always be drawn to a chill out track in the summer.
4. Something old school, think wedding playlist essential, will always go down well
Summer is the time of weddings and what are weddings most famous for, cheesy 80’s tracks at the reception of course. They are the tracks that get everyone dancing even the people like me who weren’t even born in the 80’s will be up on that dancefloor singing along in no time. For those reasons, then why not stick one or two on your summer playlist, they will obviously have the same affect and who doesn’t want to dance more than in the summer when everything seems more wonderful.
5. A cheesy childhood classic is a playlist must
For me, this is always a late 90’s or early 00’s track, think Busted, The Spice Girls, S Club 7, Backstreet Boys. The possibilities are endless for your own generation. I think these always go down well after a few drinks when the inhabitions are down and the trying to act like you are above you 9 year old self’s favourite band is over. That is the moment when everyone screams ‘I love this song!’ before busting out the moves they learnt as a child as if it was only yesterday that they last did them.The cheesy classic you choose is up to you but make sure you stick a few in there.
Let me know how you go about putting together a summer playlist and what you will be listening to this summer. You can also check out my summer playlist over on my Spotify
Mixtape Couture 