Looks like there’s a good chance a drinking song will be the official song of summer in 2024.
No, we don’t just mean we could have another rowdy summer hit about pounding alcohol. You know, like last summer’s biggest single, “Last Night” by Morgan Wallen.
This summer, we have a couple big song-of-summer contenders that instead reference coffee drinks: Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” and Hozier’s “Too Sweet” are brewing up a lot of attention using caffeinated beverages for romantic metaphors. Carpenter’s tune name-drops Mountain Dew, too.
Granted, there’s still a boozy mix out there for 2024 hits, too. Hozier’s tune also references whiskey. Wallen’s latest hit, “I Had Some Help” — written by and sung with Post Malone — has a refrain about hitting the bottle too hard. And then there’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Nashville newcomer Shaboozey, a shamelessly blatant attempt at a drinking hit that’s spreading like Jell-O shots at a frat party.
Whatever your poison, here are the leading candidates for songs to be blaring out of car windows or pumping out of Bluetooth speakers at the beach this summer — ranked in rough order from most likely contenders to trending longshots.
“I Had Some Help,” Post Malone & Morgan Wallen. The multifaceted Malone and the so-complicated Wallen have found true bromance with MVP assist from AutoTune in this song asking a woman to take some blame in a romantic breakup. Yeah, right.
“Espresso,” Sabrina Carpenter. The former Disney TV star has been trying to cross over to pop music stardom for years and firmly landed it with this ultra-catchy hit in which she compares herself to the highly caffeinated drink, keeping boys up late at night.
“Too Sweet,” Hozier. The howling Irishman of “Take Me to Church” fame is enjoying his biggest hit yet with this love song dressed up as a funky little groover, in which the love interest offers a sweet counterbalance to his whiskey and black coffee. So Irish!
