August 31st. The calendar doesn’t care about your playlist. Four records that made summer 2026 worth the sunburn and the regret, and none of them are by Coldplay.
1. Disclosure - The Sun Comes Up Tremendous
Howard Lawrence singing lead on a Disclosure track for the first time, and it turns out the voice they’ve been hiring session vocalists to replace has been sitting in the other half of the studio. Cinematic pads and a bass drop that takes its time arriving. The mountainside video looks nothing like any Disclosure visual they’ve released before. The title is doing exactly the right amount of work here. Their first release of 2026 and it landed in my rotation harder than anything off their last two albums combined.
2. Tame Impala - End of Summer
Seven minutes. Kevin Parker took psychedelic rock, ran it through an acid house filter, and emerged with the only track in 2026 that sounds like both a pool party and a panic attack. The Grammy committee called it Best Dance/Electronic Recording and for once they were right. From the October album Deadbeat, which everyone slept on until the award reminded them it existed. The rhythm section alone is worth the seven minutes. It does not overstay.
3. Jayda G - Both Of Us
House music that sounds like hugging someone you haven’t seen in a year. The vocal sits right in the pocket of the groove and refuses to leave. Released on Ninja Tune, same EP as “Are U Down,” and this is the one that sticks — warm, propulsive, built for a room full of people who came to move. I played it at a barbecue in July and two people asked me to send it to them.
4. PAWSA - Ride On Me
The kick drum could restart a stopped heart. The vocal hook won’t leave your head. Solid Grooves in June and it’s been in every second Ibiza set recording I’ve heard since. Stripped-down London tech house that hits like a closed fist. The percussion is tight enough to qualify as a weapon. Three minutes forty in, there’s a filter sweep that resets the whole room. After that it’s just the hook again, over and over, and you don’t mind.
Summer died at a good time. September can have us.