I MADE YOU A PLAYLIST, Vol. 16: "Hot Honey" 🌶🍯
Might die if you can't live just to taste it...
The world is on fire, literally and figuratively, but I come to you on this late-July day with a sweet n’ spicy little disco-laced escape from the heat — well, an escape from the figurative heat, at least. (I’ll warn you: these songs are very hot.)
Before I continue I must tell you that the title of this Summer 2022 edition of I MADE YOU A PLAYLIST was inspired by The Bear Street Tavern in Banff, Canada. Spicy honey is totally a thing now, and maybe it was a thing before my family’s twice-in-one-week trips to this pizza spot on vacation in 2017, but Bear Street was definitely my first experience with it. This place makes their own rosemary-infused chili oil, and then they bring giant bottles of the oil and some honey to your table, and you’re left to create your own concoction in which to dip your gourmet pizza. It’s the best combo.
But I digress—apologies if you were hungry before you opened this email. Back to the forthcoming summer tunes…
This is the vibe:
Can you handle the heat?!?!?! ❤️🔥 Here we go.
LISTEN
So much music, such tragically tiny attention spans. It’s only July, with so many exciting releases on the horizon, and I’m already overwhelmed by my mountain of listening homework that grows exponentially every single Friday. Here’s a short list of current-ish favorites:
Marchita by Silvana Estrada — Spotify | Apple
STUN.NING. If you’re into Phoebe Bridgers, ROSALÍA, Billie Eilish, and/or Regina Spektor, this is for you. My fave is “Ser De Ti” but you simply *must* listen front to back.
Harry’s House by Harry Styles — Spotify | Apple
Duh. Today’s top three (no particular order) are “Grapejuice,” “Satellite,” and “Keep Driving,” but ask me tomorrow and “Cinema,” my initial favorite, may have snuck its way in there, who’s to say!!
Preacher’s Daughter by Ethel Cain — Spotify | Apple
OoOOo she’s dark and moody and will inevitably appear on future fall/winter playlists… 👀 Listen to “American Teenager” and “Thoroughfare.”
MUNA by MUNA — Spotify | Apple
As a longtime MUNA stan I had extremely high expectations for this record, and upon first listen I was disappointed (??) for some reason (??) but NEVER FEAR. I have officially come around, and I’m happy to report this is a 10/10 perfect summer album.
Other top tracks: “I’d Do Anything To Make You Smile” by Jack Harlow, “Must Be Nice!” by Moody Joody, and “Catch Me In The Air” by Rina Sawayama
READ
Up first: a quick hit from one of my favorite writers/Instagrammers, Jason Diamond. He recently wrote “Welcome to Nightlife’s Time Machine Era” for GQ, on how and why old bar vibes (and actual old bars) are becoming trendy and cool again. I love a good vintage-y bar, so naturally I felt both seen and attacked while reading this fun piece that actually packs a bit of emotional punch at the end.
Otherwise, I’ve been on a reading rampage lately… and by “rampage” I mean I’ve finished a whopping 8 books so far this year, which is more books than I read during all of 2020 and 2021 combined. Atrocious, I know, but things are looking up! 🤓
A few faves:
Ghosts - Dolly Alderton
Funny You Should Ask - Elissa Sussman
Killers Of The Flower Moon - David Grann
I’m currently listening to (and enjoying!) Let’s Not Do That Again by Grant Ginder, after I started Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson and loved it but realized the audio version is not my vibe. I’m waiting for the physical copy on the hold list at my library, so stay tuned! And please send recs my way!
WATCH
Behold, two very fun music videos for two very fun songs with coincidentally similar titles. What more could you want (want)!!!!
+ Pivoting from YouTube to the streamers for a sec to share some summer-ready rom-coms, roms, coms, etc., complete with mini emoji synopses:
Cha Cha Real Smooth (Apple TV+) — 🥲🧩🕺🫀
Hacks (HBO) — 🎭👯♀️🎲♥️
Everything Everywhere All At Once (Rent/Buy) — 🥋🥯🔮😭
Along For The Ride (Netflix) — 🚴♂️🎶🎆💘
The Summer I Turned Pretty (Prime) — 💝👗🐚😿
Also, a note on Baz’s Elvis biopic: Not exactly my favorite, but Austin Butler is extremely good, and the moment Doja Cat’s “Vegas” hits while a young Elvis exits his car on Beale Street in Memphis is already one of my favorite needle drops ever. (Believe me when I say I’ve scoured the internet for a decent reference clip, but alas, I can only find random fan-made montages. Here’s an article instead.)
FOLLOW
Anthony Pham is Harry Styles’ tour photographer. He is great at his job. That’s all.
PLAY
It’s giving summer crush, it’s giving living room disco ball, it’s giving patio dance parties on humid nights with one too many seltzers and never enough purple freeze pops. (Yes, purple. Give me all your purples, please.)
I’ve listened to this playlist on 90% of my daily Hot Girl Walks™️ in the past month or so, carefully adding, subtracting, and rearranging until the sweet-to-heat ratio felt just right. It’s a whole mood and a whole vibe all in one, best blasted during the second half of an outdoor summer hang or streamed solo through good headphones on a sticky pink-skied evening.
P.S. Below, you’ll see that I’ve added a 🌶 next to the songs that stand out as absolutely CRUCIAL additions to my Summer Song Canon. If you listen to anything from this playlist, make it those tracks!
“Hot Honey”
Cinema - Harry Styles
The Palisades - Childish Gambino feat. Christian Rich
🌶 Starry Eyed Surprise - Paul Oakenfold, Shifty Shellshock, Crazy Town
Nightcrawler - Duke Dumont feat. Say Lou Lou
What I Want - MUNA
🌶 honda - FKA Twigs feat. Pa Salieu
Bang Bang - The Knocks feat. Donna Missal
Otro Atardecer - Bad Bunny feat. The Marías
🌶 Fever - Dua Lipa feat. Angèle
Overdrive - Drake
3AM - DRAMA
Colours - Roosevelt
Stop Desire - Tegan and Sara
Honey - Robyn
Want Want - Maggie Rogers
🌶 Sugar - Remi Wolf
Talk Down - Dijon
Down Hill - Drake
Bodies (Tycho Remix) - The Knocks feat. MUNA and Tycho
🌶 Waterfall - Disclosure feat. RAYE
What Should I Say - The 1975
The Rhythm - Hatchie
The World Is A Beat - N’Dambi
Good Livin’ (Good Lovin’) - Bernard “Pretty” Purdie
🌶 The Game Of Love - Santana feat. Michelle Branch
B-Side - Khruangbin feat. Leon Bridges
These Are Just Places To Me Now - Folamour
Slow Song - The Knocks feat. Dragonette
Hot Crush Lover - Blu DeTiger
I WON’T BRING IT UP AGAIN - ASL
I’m A Lady - Santigold feat. Trouble Andrew
I Like What You’re Doing To Me - Carla Thomas
Bounce - Emotional Oranges
🌶 Secrets (Your Fire) - Magdalena Bay
All For You - Janet Jackson
Dance For Love - Zella Day
Stream the full playlist here:
Or here if you’re an Apple user.
Happy summer, happy heat wave (?), hope you have a fun little crush to occupy your thoughts, or at least some honey-drizzled pizza to distract you from these sky-high temps. 🥵🔥
As always, thanks for hanging!
Natalie