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10 of the best summer anthems, picked by Metronomy

As fans celebrate a decade since the release of Metronomy’s swaying-palm-trees-and-hazy-beach-party soundtrack The English Riviera, we can think of no one more qualified than the band’s founder Joe Mount to select 10 great summer bops. Here are his favourite seasonal bangers …

Chris Rea: Josephine

This represents the more Balearic summer. It’s perfect for an Ibizan sundown session – you will have heard it in the background of a roof terrace bar or a beachside cafe. Chris Rea has sort of always been stuck in Christmas, but it’s nice that he has this other side to him. If Driving Home for Christmas is the winter equinox, Josephine is the summer equinox.

Dal ft Leah Yeger: Those Days

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It’s a song by a new Devon band who manage to capture my own teenage Devonshire summers spent labouring in a fudge pantry and putting £3 of petrol in my car at a time. I’m with Dal: take me back to those days. Pairs well with a BBQ and doob.

Shocking Blue: Send Me a Postcard

There are certain things that happen during summer: one is a barbecue with mates and another is driving somewhere and experiencing free-flowing traffic or traffic jams. This song is for a free-flowing traffic situation, when you’re on the open road and everything’s going really well.

Finley Quaye: Sunday Shining

I remember hating the ubiquity of this at any sort of Devonshire pub or party I would go to, but time heals all wounds. Now when I hear this song, I think it’s quite nice. I guess at the time that it came out, I wasn’t as middle-aged as I am now.

Eddie Cochran: Summertime Blues

What I like about this song is that it’s an early attempt to capture what it feels like to be young in summer. It’s a teenage summer song but what’s interesting is that there’s a little bit of nuance to it. It’s feelgood, but in a weird way.

Len: Steal My Sunshine

I hated this when it came out. I would have been in sixth form and there was a hint of nu-metal in its presentation. I’d just stopped wearing wallet chains, so I felt it was a bit regressive. Now I’ve realised that it’s actually good. The sample’s from a disco track [Andrea True Connection’s More, More, More].

Stereolab: Ping Pong

It’s the embodiment of summer in a song, but lyrically it’s all about recessions and economic recovery. It’s quite topical; look up the lyrics, it’s very informative. It was used in a skateboard video and it was the only song of theirs that I was familiar with for a while.

Bananarama: Cruel Summer

My sister was a very big Bananarama fan back in the day. I remember thinking that this was a bit meatier than some of the other stuff she was listening to, like Kylie. My favourite girl group of all time is probably the Shangri-Las, and of my time, it would be All Saints.

Souls of Mischief: 93 Til Infinity

This was released in September 1993, but it probably reached Devon in May 1995. It’s got an incredibly evocative intro. With summer music you can get tied in knots of nostalgia and this song serves that purpose to the extreme, reminding me of long, hot days that possibly never happened.

The Brothers Four: The Green Leaves of Summer

I was chatting to my mum and dad yesterday and they both started singing this. It’s a folky song about how summer is a time for ploughing and being by your wife. I only heard it for the first time yesterday, but I’ve listened to it five times already. It’s kind of becoming my song of this summer already.