I MADE YOU A PLAYLIST, Vol. 1: "Feel the Heat"
A celebration of the summer crush.
Welcome to the inaugural issue of I MADE YOU A PLAYLIST!
The citronella candle on my porch has been in a perpetual half-melted state for the past few weeks, much like myself. SO, in light of a) the atrocity that is August in Alabama and b) the impending conclusion of the official summer months, what better things to celebrate than HOT SUMMER NIGHTS and CRUSHES. YES.
I love crushes! I’m an absolute pro at having crushes. And I’ve already been listening to plenty of high-voltage, disco-adjacent, lovelorn pop this summer, so it was easy enough to run full-speed in the direction of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.”
I now present to you a collection of tunes (duh) and tidbits (i.e. articles, Instagrams, and other entertaining miscellany) which I’ve gathered with the utmost care and enthusiasm. Some inspired the theme, some just fit nicely within it, and some are completely unrelated.
Okay ~grab some headphones~ here we go!!!
LISTEN
“The Heat” by Moody Joody
Literally THE inspiration for this theme! I can’t stop! These melodies are the MOST satisfying and I simply cannot wait to listen at midnight on the highway or at a post-pandemic party. It’s confident and cautious at the same time, a.k.a. the SUMMER CRUSH EMOTIONAL SWEET SPOT.
Bonus: If you venture over to Moody Joody’s Instagram, you’ll find that their bio includes the words “shimmies” and “lassos,” so… yes, would recommend a follow based on that alone. Yeehaw.
READ
Hanif Abdurraqib’s “On Summer Crushing” and “At The House Party Where We Found Out Whitney Houston Was Dead.”
Hanif is so good (SO good) at describing crushes in a way that makes them seem legitimate, important, and justified, rather than silly, dumb, and trivial. He’s quickly becoming one of my favorite writers. In his poem “At The House Party…” (see excerpt below), he suggests that love has built a “vacation home” inside the sax solo of Whitney’s “How Will I Know.” I’ve fully subscribed to this idea, and now I just imagine all the good love songs in the world as beachside Airbnbs, opening their screen doors with the volume turned up and maybe even a mini disco ball hanging from the ceiling, White Claws in the fridge and frozen margaritas in the blender, ready to welcome us inside to celebrate our lives, birthdays, jobs, weddings, CRUSHES, good days, bad days, etc. A lovely thought!
Anyway, I love these two Whitney Houston pieces deeply, and have returned to them multiple times this summer. I’ve heard her hits so many times, but Hanif’s writing made me pause and absorb their greatness in a way I hadn’t before. Here are a few of my favorite lines:
But where Whitney and I meet is this: the idea of falling in love over and over again within an endless loop of uncertainty. Sometimes, it isn’t even the person you’re falling in love with, just the uncertainty itself. I have been known to take everything as a sign, even if I am lying to myself. That’s part of the fun. It’s the idea of certainty that drains me. - “On Summer Crushing”
On a night when I don’t understand where love lives in the way I will understand where love lives in coming months, but I understand there is a saxophone solo at about 3 minutes and 30 seconds into the song “How Will I Know”, and I’m pretty sure love has a vacation home there, and we are all invited tonight… - “At The House Party…”
Hanif also started a new project called 68to05, where he’s making playlists categorized by year, from 1968 to 2005. I can’t speak to any favorites yet because the collections are already so vast and amazing I barely know where to start, but I love knowing that it exists as a top-notch resource should I ever find myself in a musical rut.
Dave Grohl’s “The Day the Live Concert Returns” (The Atlantic).
Sad, but good. Obviously I love concerts, and obviously I am very excited to attend one again. Join me and the Foo Fighters’ frontman in our hope and misery.
E. Alex Jung’s “Michaela the Destroyer” (Vulture).
I finally caved and subscribed to HBO Max just to watch I May Destroy You… mostly thanks to this profile of Michaela Coel, the triple-threat writer/co-director/star of the show. I’m only on episode 4 and she’s already haunting my dreams a little, but I’m determined to make it to the (apparently amazing) finale. (And the music is EXCELLENT.) This profile is fascinating and totally sold me on Coel as an artist in general.
Also, still not over this look*:
*Speaking of looks, see also: Hunter Schafer’s September cover story for Allure magazine. A great read (especially if you watched Euphoria), and an even cooler photo shoot.
FOLLOW
@nathan.head posts super-summery neon content that always stops me mid-scroll. His art is hot and bright, reminds me of Tumblr in a good way, and almost makes me reach for my sunglasses.
PLAY
I told you I made you a playlist. Here are some songs—30, to be exact—to help with handling past, present, and future summer crushes. (Or, if you are crush-less, they’re just really fun jams.) This playlist is best enjoyed in order and when outdoor temps are above 80-ish degrees, but no worries if it’s chilly for some reason and you have to pretend.
Disclaimer: By no means is this an exhaustive list of summer crush songs (honorable mentions go out to other crush-prone artists like Caroline Polachek, Cascada, and Now, Now). But these are the ones I chose at this very humid moment during this very weird summer, so you’ll just have to deal for now.
Feel the Heat
The Heat - Moody Joody
Cool - Dua Lipa (oops we’re mixing temps now, but it’s all good)
Felt This Way - Carly Rae Jepsen
I Love You Always Forever - Donna Lewis (does a more perfect song exist?)
Save A Kiss - Jessie Ware
I Wanna Dance with Somebody - Whitney Houston
Addicted - The Night Cafe
Something Special - Pop Smoke
MALAMENTE - ROSALIA
song of the summer - Carly Rose
Teenage Dream - Katy Perry (simply a classic)
Say Something - Kylie Minogue
Somebody - Dagny
Sway - Tove Styrke (this bridge is a big yes from me)
CRUSH - SEBASTIAN PAUL
Say It - Maggie Rogers
Do You Want Me - Skyline Motel
Let Her Go - 6LACK
Heat Waves - Glass Animals (if you listen once, you’ll have to listen at least 3 more times—sorry, I don’t make the rules)
Ode to a Conversation Stuck in Your Throat - Del Water Gap (watch this adorable vid, too)
Plum - Troye Sivan
Summertime Magic - Childish Gambino
Bad Liar - Selena Gomez
Bodies - The Knocks, MUNA
Devils In The Canyon - The Strike (10/10 will energize the soul)
Next To Me - Marlene
Electricity (with Dua Lipa) - Silk City (+ this music video is 🔥)
What Should I Say - The 1975
Lightning Fields (feat. k.d. lang) - The Killers
How Will I Know - Whitney Houston (THE GRAND FINALE—pay attention to the sax moment at 3:30, it’s glorious)
Listen to the whole thing here:
Apple Music peeps, I don’t discriminate. Here’s a link just for you.
Okay, till next time! Stay cool! Tell me your faves! Send me songs! Happy listening and best of luck with your crushes!
Natalie
P.S. I’m new here, so feedback is more than welcome. If this is your first Substack rodeo, here’s a fun fact: you can reply directly to this email, and it will go right to me! How convenient!!!
P.P.S. If you live for new music the same way I do, follow my Baker’s Dozen playlist on Spotify. Updated every Friday—no genres, no themes, just 13 good songs.