Hits like “Espresso” and “Nasty” are nonsense, but perfect summer songs

• Viral hits from Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter and Tinashe point to a larger trend in pop music.
• So far this summer has been dominated by “Smooth Brain” songs – fun, silly and full of good vibes.
• This could be a reaction to the recent spate of bad news and trigger a greater need for escapism.

This time last year, I woke up every morning and played “The Record” by Boygenius from start to finish.

After the album ended with “Letter to an Old Poet,” a song about mourning a toxic relationship and begging the moon for some happiness, I usually followed it with pieces by Mitski, Noah Kahan, or Ethel Cain, who write about darker themes like loneliness, depression, and occasionally murder.

Now it’s a wonderful twist that I wake up every morning listening to “Brat” by Charli XCX – or, as she calls it, “365 Party Girl, Bumpin’ That.”

Charli’s sixth studio album is a buffet of neon-lit hyperpop bangers that veer between boisterous boasts about wearing designer clothes and being an icon to blunt confessions about body image and female envy.

Unlike the work of Mitski or Kahan, Charli’s confessions aren’t meant to make you stop and cry. Hers are direct, raw and impulsive, thrown uninhibitedly into the airwaves and then drowned out by hard-hitting beats.

Charli’s stream-of-consciousness style is reminiscent of a night at the club; ugly emotions surface, but when the DJ plays your favorite song, they dissipate just as quickly.

“Brat,” along with viral hits like Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” and Tinashe’s “Nasty,” ushered in a season of fun and lightheartedness—what my friends and I call a “Smooth Brain Summer.”

The most important principles are simple: don’t think too much, don’t analyze too much and don’t spoil the mood.

“Smooth Brain Summer” could be a reaction to the news cycle

This trend seems at odds with the level of suffering in the world today, and especially in recent months. But perhaps it is more directly related – a demand born of burnout, fatigue from bad news, and the fatalistic urge to party on the ledge. It’s not October yet; when the apocalypse comes, our window for pure moodiness will finally close.

The main appeal of pop music has always been escapism. The late producer Sophie – a friend and frequent collaborator of Charli’s, to whom a song on “Brat” is dedicated – once said her goal with pop music was to make “the loudest, brightest thing.”

“It’s an interesting challenge for me, both musically and artistically,” Sophie told Rolling Stone. “And I think it’s a very valid challenge – just as valid as the question of who can be the most emotionally genuine.”

In fact, for several years now, we’ve been living in a pop world dominated by and reshaped by Taylor Swift. Swift’s brand of confessional, wordy songwriting has influenced a new generation of musicians who have come of age in her wake, from established cult favorites like Phoebe Bridgers to new faces like Olivia Rodrigo and Gracie Abrams – all of whom value raw, unflinching honesty in their lyrics.

These days, it’s common for an artist to promote their next album as their “most personal work yet,” as if it were some indisputable virtue or a magic spell for mainstream success. The strategy is slowly becoming outdated, if it isn’t already.

That’s not to say, of course, that artists like Rodrigo and Abrams aren’t still successful. Rodrigo is in the midst of a sold-out world tour in support of her second album, “Guts,” which debuted at No. 1, while Abrams is aiming for a high entry on the Billboard charts with her sophomore album, “The Secret of Us,” which is supported by a duet with Swift herself.

Some music should be complete nonsense

What I’m saying is that ripped-from-the-journal songwriting isn’t the only way to make great music, climb the charts, or capture the zeitgeist. Not everyone can write a Swift-style hit; in fact, most people shouldn’t even try. Some music is just meant to be fun, even if the lyrics are gibberish.

As we were reminded this year, some music is actually more It’s fun when the lyrics are gibberish. Take Carpenter, for example, who claims in “Espresso” that her charm is so addictive, so distracting, that it keeps her lover awake like a shot of caffeine.

“That’s my espresso” is a grammatically incorrect sentence, and that’s where the beauty lies. A simple concept becomes a catchphrase that can be quoted endlessly and compulsively shared; it makes the chorus feel like an inside joke between everyone singing along.

Charli and Tinashe have their own versions of this cheeky gimmick. In the chorus of “360,” the opening track from Brat, Charli sings, “I’m everywhere, I’m so Julia.” The line is an obscure Julia Fox reference that most people would never notice even if they saw her in the music video.

The phrasing of “I’m so Julia” borders on nonsense. Yet it’s the phrase that sticks in your weird reptilian brain – the part that’s driven by vibrations, not logic. Social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram are full of people complimenting their friends and idols in a new way: “You’re soooo Julia.”

For Tinashe, whose catalog is overflowing with clever, masterfully crafted songs that should have been hits, it was a ridiculous question that finally gave her her breakthrough: “Is there anyone who can keep up with my craziness?”

It became a dance trend, then a meme, and now the song is a bona fide mainstream success. “Nasty” recently peaked at number 69 on the Billboard Hot 100, Tinashe’s first-ever solo entry, over a decade after she signed her first label deal.

These peculiar bops make the perfect foundation for a Smooth Brain Summer soundtrack – but please note that this doesn’t mean they are worthless or meaningless. Rather, their value and meaning are out in the open, ready and eager to be consumed. Very little self-reflection or analysis is required to enjoy them.

There’s still an appetite (and a need) for complex metaphors, history lessons and personal revelations in pop music – but now is not the time for them. We’re too busy sipping our espresso.