Stream the playlist via Apple Music (clean), Spotify (clean), Tidal (clean), YouTube (clean).
You and your besties have waited patiently and saved diligently for that beach trip, that cross-country drive or that music festival overlooking the ocean. Or maybe you're staying home, but in need of a different state of mind — to drift, to dance, to spill a silly drink while in good company with family and friends. Roséwave is where you are this summer; we have the soundtrack.
Roséwave is a lifestyle, not a genre, loosely based around playlists and short essays that evoke the memories, moods and feels of summer. (Or to quote the Cambridge Dictionary's blog — no, really — "a style of music designed to make the listener think of relaxed summer days and evenings.") You held onto that special shade of lipstick just long enough for the gloss to pop in the sun. You made a list of saccharine rom-coms to screen in the backyard. Your closet has switched from cotton button-ups to linen barely buttoned-at-all. You just fell in love and quit your job. You've been in love for a long time. You are ready to make Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie your entire personality. Your heart glitters every time you see your bestie IRL even though you just spent all yesterday in DMs.
Rosé is in the name, yes, to signal simpler and sunnier pleasures, but any song that pairs sweetly with a cool beverage (be it seltzer, iced latte, cucumber water, iced tea) and listless singalongs and dance parties is the pink-hued modus vivendi. Roséwave is light and breezy, but not necessarily unsophisticated — the sound of an experience kissed by sweet summer heat.
For season six, we begin, as always, with the seven-hour party mix. We salute our patron saints who set the summer stage: Maggie Rogers' effervescent sensuality ("That's Where I Am"), Debbie Harry's punk glamor (Blondie's "Hanging on the Telephone") and Beyoncé delivering unto us the glitter-ball experience we've been craving ("BREAK MY SOUL"). You will also find queer anthems (MUNA's "Silk Chiffon," The Aces' "Girls Make Me Wanna Die" and Chappell Roan's "Naked in Manhattan") and kiss-offs (Becky G and Karol G's "MAMIII," Summer Walker's "Ex for a Reason"). There are jams of all varietals: sumptuously slow (Moonchild's "Love I Need" and Erykah Badu's "Didn't Cha Know"); body rockin' (Saucy Santana's "Booty") and empowering (Reba McEntire's "I'm a Survivor" remix, Donna Summer's "Bad Girls"). Oh, and songs about falling in and out of love — always.
Y'all can expect new mixes all season long. We're calling them soundtracks for summer babes — short studies of roséwave lifestyles and the music that makes them move. But until then, hit play and vibe all day.
Thanks to NPR Music's Lyndsey McKenna, Marissa Lorusso and Hazel Cills for their playlist contributions.
Roséwave: Summer Getaway Tracklist
Maggie Rogers, "That's Where I Am"
Beyoncé, "BREAK MY SOUL"
Janet Jackson, "All For You"
Bad Bunny (feat. The Marías), "Otro Atardecer"
Miranda Lambert (feat. The B-52s), "Music City Queen"
MUNA, "Silk Chiffon"
Phoenix, "Too Young"
Donna Summer, "Bad Girls"
Fania All Stars, "Ella Fue (She Was The One)"
Leikeli47, "LL Cool J"
Ibeyi, "Sister 2 Sister"
Chappell Roan, "Naked in Manhattan"
The Suffers, "Don't Bother Me"
Earth, Wind & Fire, "Getaway"
Mac Miller (feat. Miguel), "Weekend"
Koffee, "West Indies"
Camilo, "KESI"
Haruomi Hosono, "Choo Choo Gatagoto"
Harry Styles, "Late Night Talking"
Kenny Loggins, "This Is It"
Bruce Hornsby, "Every Little Kiss"
Sade, "The Sweetest Taboo"
Blondie, "Hanging on the Telephone"
Chic, "I Want Your Love"
Piper, "Summer Breeze"
Jo Dee Messina, "Heads Carolina, Tails California"
Diana Ross (feat. Tame Impala), "Turn Up The Sunshine"
Steve Monite, "Only You"
FKA twigs (feat. rema), "jealousy"
DOMi & JD BECK, "SMiLE"
Peach Face, "Midnight Lover"
L'Impératrice, "Voodoo?"
Becky G & Karol G, "MAMIII"
Neneh Cherry, "Buddy X"
The Isley Brothers, "Summer Breeze"
Khruangbin & Leon Bridges, "B-Side"
Hailey Whitters, "Everything She Ain't"
Lila Iké, "Wanted"
Topaz Jones, "Black Tame"
Erykah Badu, "Didn't Cha Know"
Common, "The Light"
Ebo Taylor, "Heaven"
Bloc Party, "Banquet"
Shakira (feat. Rihanna), "Can't Remember to Forget You"
The Aces, "Girls Make Me Wanna Die"
Avril Lavigne, "Complicated"
Marshall Chapman, "Rock and Roll Clothes"
Maren Morris, "I Can't Love You Anymore"
SZA, "Jodie"
Foals, "Wake Me Up"
C. Tangana & Nathy Peluso, "Ateo"
Hikaru Utada, "Kireina Hito (Find Love)"
Brigitte Bardot, "Ne me laisse pas l'aimer"
Masayoshi Takanaka, "Brasilian Skies"
Sunday's Best, "The Californian"
Dire Straits, "Sultans of Swing"
Brandi Carlile (feat. Lucius), "You and Me on the Rock"
Terea, "Pretty Bird"
Moonchild (feat. Rhapsody), "Love I Need"
Maureen Mason, "I'm Believing (In Love Again)"
Adora, "Trouble? TRAVEL!"
MJ Nebreda, "Quédate"
Carly Rae Jepsen, "Western Wind"
INXS, "New Sensation"
Orville Peck, "C'mon Baby, Cry"
Sky Ferreira, "Don't Forget"
The-Dream, "Rockin' That Thang"
Summer Walker (feat. JT from City Girls), "Ex for a Reason"
Ludacris, "Pimpin' All Over the World"
Lizzo, "Grrrls"
Nicki Minaj, "The Night is Still Young"
Pale Waves, "Reasons to Live"
Empress Of, "Dance for You"
Beach Bunny, "Karaoke"
Steely Dan, "Peg"
Kate Bollinger, "Who Am I But Someone"
Erin Rae, "True Love's Face"
Raveena, "Mystery"
Junatime & Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon, "Take Time"
Yumi Zouma, "In the Eyes of Our Love"
Reba McEntire, "I'm A Survivor (Lafemmebear Remix)"
Saucy Santana (feat. Latto), "Booty"
Ibibio Sound Machine, "All That You Want"
The Weeknd, "Gasoline"
Jack J, "Thirstin'"
Kylie Minogue, "Love at First Sight"
NCT DREAM, "Beatbox"
Bad Gyal, "La Prendo"
Usher & Alicia Keys, "My Boo"
Adele, "Oh My God"
Calypso Rose, "Abatina"
Nailah Blackman, "Baila Mami"
Rae Sremmurd, "Denial"
Chronixx, "Never Give Up"
Teyana Taylor, "Made It"
Ravyn Lenae, "M.I.A."
Naomi, "Pas le temps de jouer"
Rina Sawayama, "This Hell"
Annie, "Me Plus One"
Q-Tip, "Vivrant Thing"
Charli XCX, "Twice"
Barrie, "Frankie"
Ingrid Andress, "Seeing Someone Else"
Angel Olsen, "Big Time"
Ebunctions, "Nothing but Your Love"
Toro Y Moi, "Millennium"
Jorge Santana, "Sandy"
Marcia Hines, "You"
Bacao Rhythm, "Dirt Off Your Shoulder"
Alton Ellis, "It's True"
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
