From boundary-pushing progressive country and uncompromising hardcore hip-hop to rebellious electroclash, this recent summer’s album releases delivered something for everyone. In keeping with the Arts & Entertainment section’s yearly tradition, our writers are here to share their album of the summer picks. Each writer will make their case for their favorite(s), and maybe help you discover a new sound that sticks with you!
Abigail McKenna: Snipe Hunter by Tyler Childers
Released July 25, Tyler Childers' Snipe Hunter is a wildly unpredictable country album with all the twists and turns of a southern back road. Within the 13 tracks, Childers goes beyond the boundaries of genre, playing with everything from experimental rock to gospel music, all tied together with a distinctly Appalachian style of storytelling and a lot of wry humor. Aptly called a "wanderer's album," Snipe Hunter stands out not only for its eccentric qualities but also for its wide ranged appeal. Every listener is likely to find some of themselves in the album, as long as they're willing to look.
The album opens with "Eatin' Big Time," a refreshingly down-to-earth take on the notorious ‘I was like you once, look how I struggled’ song. Its lyrics draw from the unique experience of poverty in rural Appalachia. From the wordplay in the title, likely referencing electronic benefit transfers, to the unadulterated rage found in iconic lines like “have you ever got to hold and blow a thousand fucking dollars,“ it's a profoundly resonant piece that celebrates Childers’ well-earned success while recognizing, and relating to, the struggle of working class Americans.
Another standout track, “Nose On The Grindstone,“ is the long-awaited studio version of an old fan favorite. A heartbreaking reference to Childers' upbringing and personal experience with addiction, this song is especially relevant because of the opioid crisis that still grips rural Appalachian and Southern communities. Childers serves as a voice for the systemically underrepresented and underserved people of Appalachia, and in doing so, becomes a voice for people as a whole.
Simultaneously gritty, romantic and simply fun, there truly is a song for everyone on Snipe Hunter, making it the quintessential “album of the summer.”
Max Duncan: Let God Sort Em Out by Clipse
It’s the perfect recipe. Brothers Pusha T and Malice of the hip-hop duo Clipse reuniting for their first album in nearly 16 years, Pharrell returning as the executive producer and enough controversy to skyrocket any album to the headlines. So do “yellow diamonds look like pee-pee” or did Clipse lose the plot on their newest album Let God Sort Em Out?
This album has everything the hip-hop scene needs right now: the raw emotionality, the defiance against corporate record labels and King Push’s signature unapologetic ruthlessness. The opening track, “The Birds Don’t Sing,” deals with the emotions the brothers felt during their mother’s and father’s deaths. It establishes the album’s raw, unwavering and nuanced lyricism which sets it apart while simultaneously leaving you tearing up before the infamous “Chains & Whips.” Kendrick Lamar’s verse on this track caused friction between Clipse and their previous label, Def Jam. This controversy resulted in Clipse leaving Def Jam to join Roc Nation as the artists refused to remove Kendrick’s verse on the track as Def Jam and its parent company, Universal Music Group, requested.
This controversy adds an additional layer to the album, marking a classic triumph of creative freedoms and artistic vision over corporate censorship — a victory that seems so few and far between in the era of modern music, especially considering how the Kendrick and Drake beef ended last summer. The repetition of the line “This is culturally inappropriate,” throughout the album is especially poignant as Clipse rebels against pop culture and pokes fun at those that clutch their pearls, believing Push is too unhinged for mainstream culture. Yet that is part of what makes this album so entertaining. Clipse refuses to compromise in confronting controversial topics while making listeners question their peers and the state of the music scene.
With Clipse reinventing the plot, there is no other album more deserving of a 10/10 from both yours truly and Anthony Fantano, aka. theneedledrop, than Let God Sort Em Out.
Max Duncan: Vanisher, Horizon Scraper by Quadeca
Vanisher, Horizon Scraper is not your regular summer music bump that you blast in your car with the windows rolled down under a cloudless pastel blue sky. It’s a transformative experience. It’s the dichotomous slow burn album on the sea. Paired with the album movie, the album grows into something grander than thought to be conceivable. The album is a journey in every sense of the word. It’s a literal journey for the album’s protagonist, a journey for the listener, and of course a journey for the artist, Quadeca.
This is Quadeca’s most vulnerable album as he comes to utilize his melodic singing voice more over his experimental tracks that listeners have come to love in releases such as “Scrapyard” and “I Didn’t Mean to Haunt You.”
Vanisher, Horizon Scraper, at least in my mind, depicts the journey of a man losing himself in pursuit of a grand dream only to find he has betrayed his friends and is destined to repeat his Sisyphean obsession and eventual downfall for eternity. The repetitive lyrics of “I’ll be there when no one is” in the opening track, “No Questions Asked” affirms the protagonist’s determination to not lose those close to him again while simultaneously acting as a desire to have someone be there for him and prevent his isolation. The album’s story emulates that of Quadeca’s own as he obsessively pursues the best discography of the decade.
Yet there are some pitfalls to this album, such as the lyrics being somewhat hazy in pursuit of ambiguity and the mastering being somewhat juvenile. These characteristics both give Vanisher, Horizon Scraper its charm and detract from its potential. Overall, it is not perfect, but it shows a side of Quadeca that once hid behind being a “YouTube rapper” and his experimental tracks. Vanisher, Horizon Scraper shows his constant struggle to improve and innovate, such is the case with the album movie, while finding perfection. This is the type of album that makes all Quadeca fans proud of how far he has come and anxiously anticipate where he will go next.
Aditya Sankar: The Provocateur by ADÉLA
Compared to 2024, the summer of 2025 may have seemed relatively quiet on the musical front, but there’s still plenty to appreciate. From Rebecca Black and Oklou to Lady Gaga and FKA Twigs, the pulsating synths of electropop have had quite a good year. Joining their ranks this summer was ADÉLA, with her debut EP The Provocateur. Clocking in at a concise 19 minutes, it wastes no time tackling the dance floor from every angle.
ADÉLA’s personal background — mainly her elimination from the reality show “Dream Academy,” best known for producing the group KATSEYE — has contributed to the conversation surrounding this record. She alludes to her experiences in the ironically titled and effortlessly catchy electroclash track “FinallyApologising”, and critiques star culture with a biting edge in the opening track “Superscar.” The album is bold in every sense — viewer discretion is advised for the accompanying visuals.
That said, background knowledge is by no means necessary to enjoy these newly minted club classics. The EP is better appreciated sonically than lyrically (although hearing “dare you to tell me / don’t shoot your baby” on “Homewrecked” can be startling the first time around). Whether it’s the strangely vulnerable club sounds of “Go” or the pounding industrial-inspired breakdowns of “DeathByDevotion,” there’s something for everyone’s inner raver.
Synchronising unrelenting dance hooks with cleverly layered vocals, this EP is an easy one to love if you’re looking for a summertime night-time pop extravaganza.
P.S. Fans of more experimental or psychedelic electronica should also be sure to check out Edits by Chuquimamani-Condori, a compilation of her DJ edits released this summer with an immersive and warmly energetic soundscape best enjoyed with headphones on.
Rebecca Ahn: The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1 by Lord Huron
Lord Huron’s fifth album, The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1, carried me through the summer nights when I just wanted to feel like I was sitting in a cabin deep in the woods. I would be drinking in the smell of fire and wood, removed from the past but also deeply entangled in it. Specific? Yes. Did the album somehow also deliver those exact vibes? Also, yes.
A sense of lingering sadness rings through most of the album. The narrator has lost something, someone. In “Looking Back,” he sings, “Spent my whole life looking up and wondering who I am / [...] Something tells me you and I will never meet again.” On “The Comedian,” it’s “I wanna see that light in your eyes again,” and on the aptly-titled “Digging Up The Past,” he’s “digging up the past and dreaming of what might have been.”
He talks of such loss without much fanfare. He contemplates more than howls. That’s the quiet beauty of Cosmic Selector, and that’s what makes Lord Huron’s songs so distinctive. The simple, repeated melodies in each track set up an atmospheric forest for the soft vocals to make their mark.
Ironically, however, my favorite song is the weirdest one out of the twelve: “Who Laughs Last,” featuring Kristen Stewart (yes, the Kristen Stewart). She narrates a story about driving through an alien landscape, followed by the chorus that asks, “If nothing stays forever, who laughs last?” Looking beyond the strangeness of the imagery, the lyrics express the freedom of leaving behind familiarity and embracing the fleetingness of life. I find this track the perfect breath of fresh air between the other musky wood-scented tunes. We all have our ghosts, but we also learn how to set ourselves free.
Cosmic Selector doesn’t offer a concrete resolution to the narrator’s journey. It leaves us waiting for the next step, whatever form that may take — Vol. 2, a new single, a live performance. We linger. So will I, replaying these songs until I’ve soaked them up to my heart’s content.
