The past two summers have been filled with great pop hits. The year 2023 brought us “Boy’s a liar Pt. 2,” “Cupid” by FIFTY FIFTY, “Rush” by Troye Sivan, and the entirety of the Barbie movie soundtrack. Then, 2024 was “Brat” summer, featuring “Good Luck Babe,” “Espresso,” and the Kendrick-Drake beef. So, after two solid years of big summers for pop music, what did 2025 have to bring to the table?
Apparently, Benson Boone, Morgen Wallen and Alex Warren.
These songs might be fine on their own, but placed consecutively, the hits of summer 2025 make for a boring, and frankly, sad, monotonous slog of acoustic country pop that Rolling Stones writer Larisha Paul nicknamed “voice audition pop.” They have modest instrumentals, basic drums and a guy “hooting and hollering,” as many critics on TikTok say. For me, these songs’ problem isn’t necessarily that they are vocally challenging, but instead how their music seems to be the audio equivalent of plain Cheerios.
“Ordinary” by Alex Warren sounds like a knock-off Imagine Dragons song, complete with a chanting chorus that hearkens back to the 2011 stomp-clap-hey dark ages.
“What I Want” by Morgan Wallen and Tate McRae is a milquetoast country pop song over a flaccid trap beat so bland and lifeless that it makes the Creighton water fountains taste like Evian.
Benson Boone’s “Mystical Magical” genuinely sounds AI-generated. It reminds me of AI-generated ‘80s fashion. It’s “Good Luck Babe” and “Pink Pony Club” without any of the camp and queer angst that made those songs so great.
There’s nothing different or edgy or exciting about any of these songs. They all sound similar and blend together into a dull flavorless oatmeal. Pop music is supposed to be fun to listen to, however the top hits of summer 2025 have felt like a chore to listen to.
What’s even more appalling is the lack of new music charting. Aside from the songs I mentioned, most of the summer charts were haunted by stale, year-old songs like Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” and Lady Gaga’s “Die With A Smile.” I find this disappointing, as plenty of artists released great projects over the summer, including Kesha, Addison Rae, PinkPantheress and Adéla. (Do yourself a favor and listen to Adéla’s debut album!)
Usually, pop music offers a welcome escape from the chaos of the world, but this summer it just sounded like background noise.