Gloomy summer

"Nothing can save us, not music, not fashion, not movies," artist Charli XCX wrote in her newly released song SS26.

The person who's probably least sad this summer is Taylor Swift.

SS26 stands for Spring-Summer 2026. Thinking of songs welcoming summer brings to mind explosive pop, energetic dance tracks, relaxing acoustics, and nostalgic rock. But this artist, who has received 10 Grammy nominations, welcomes summer with a song that couldn't be more melancholic.

And she wasn't the only one.

Olivia Rodrigo has written many melancholic songs about heartbreak. But in the singles leading up to Rodrigo's third studio album this summer – Drop Dead and The Cure – the heartbreak becomes more pessimistic than ever.

The music is densely packed with lyrics about boredom, death, poison, paranoia… and love that has lost its ability to redeem.

The song opens with raw acoustics and whispered vocals, transitioning to a suffocating atmosphere reminiscent of dark alternative rock from the 1990s, before Rodrigo's vocals reach heart-wrenching high notes amidst orchestral sounds and thunderous drumming.

The accompanying music video depicts a nurse entangled in blood vessels within a hospital bed. The accompanying string instruments resonate like these fragile blood vessels.

You may also like

Sabrina Carpenter's new album explodes on Spotify despite being full of stories of failed relationships.Following the resounding success of her song "Espresso," which topped charts and dominated social media throughout the summer of 2024, Sabrina Carpenter continues to assert her appeal with her new album, "Man's Best Friend."

The World Cup and Taylor Swift's "economic theory"The World Cup is expected to boost the US economy by more than $9 billion, nearly double the amount from Taylor Swift's Eras Tour. Comparing a global event to a solo performance might seem inappropriate, but it does offer some interesting economic lessons.

Nicole Kidman and Angelina Jolie went home empty-handed, while Demi Moore was nominated for her first Oscar.

And what about Ariana Grande? Where did her soaring belts go? Even though her new single, "Hate That I Made You Love Me," doesn't carry the same dark messages as her peers, why is it missing those familiar vocal bursts?

We also can't forget the phenomenon of the early summer months this year, the country song "Choosin' Texas," which achieved the remarkable feat of spending 10 weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The song, written by singer Ella Langley, born in 1999, is also the heartbreaking self-reflection of a girl who has just broken up with a wild cowboy. He has run off to a new love in Texas, while she sits here drinking to drown her sorrows. A familiar, depressing story in country music.

The only one offering a glimmer of hope is Taylor Swift, with a song that reminds us of Taylor in her twenties, when she sang about the sweet anxieties of a young girl coming of age.

But "I knew it, I knew you" was a song commissioned for an animated film, aimed at young children, so it shouldn't be counted.

So what made this summer so gloomy?

Some say it's due to the gloomy economy and the uncertain future. That explanation fits the song by Charli XCX, a mixed-race artist with half Indian ancestry, who is therefore always expected to speak out about politics and the world around her.

The frivolous world of entertainment she belongs to is one where people superficially ignore real issues, only caring about the latest collections from fashion houses. And she believes "we are walking down the runway straight to hell."

But it still doesn't explain why female artists this summer are all bringing such a melancholic atmosphere. Even Zara Larsson's album Midnight Sun, though promoted as a true dance-pop album inspired by the phenomenon of the sun never setting in Northern Europe during the summer, still evokes this feeling.

You may also like

The 33-year-old singer gave the audience a heart-stopping moment with her stunt of hanging suspended in mid-air.USA - Singer Ariana Grande stunned thousands of fans by hanging dozens of meters in mid-air during the opening night of her Eternal Sunshine tour.

Taylor Swift has good news before her wedding day.VTV.vn - Taylor Swift has become the richest female musician in history, with her net worth reaching $2 billion according to Forbes statistics.

Singer Taylor Swift held a private wedding ceremony in New York.Singer Taylor Swift and football star Travis Kelce are reportedly planning to get married at Madison Square Garden in New York with over 1,000 guests in attendance.

But the constant presence of the sun doesn't make the fun eternal; in fact, it makes people feel even more acutely the fleeting nature of love, joy, and time.

A few years ago, Charli XCX herself started the Brat Summer trend, inspiring girls all over the world to enjoy the summer with a hedonistic, rebellious, and energetic spirit. Now that the fun is over, people need to enjoy summer in a different way.

Interestingly, Lana Del Rey, often considered the queen of melancholy, when writing about summer in her new song this year, "White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter," while the music remains as haunting, mysterious, and gloomy as ever, the story it tells is filled with the wonderful little joys of married life.

Perhaps it's simply because happiness and sadness always alternate. No one is happy forever, and no one is sad forever.

HIEN TRANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/mua-he-rau-ri-20260607100305761.htm