JUNE SEASON 2025: Sick of Summer!!

Written by: Anushka (25-E2), Lynette (25-U1), Kaitlyn (25-U1), Amelia (25 -E3), Liyana (25-I3)

Designed by: Lynette (25-U1)

As the June holidays come to an end, July peeks its sweat-laced, thirty-degree sun round the corner. Imagine summer and you’ll likely begin to envision the western, Eurocentric kind sold to us in pop culture— think pool floats, outings to the beach, the first taste of real warmth after months of snow and spring chill. Trends like brat summer have made their rounds worldwide and have served to further summer’s image: chaotic, blissful, free. While the turn of the seasons may have left summer attractive to our Western counterparts, the ever-growing press of heat here in Singapore has achieved exactly the opposite. So we’re saying it out loud, sweaty and sunburned: We, the citizens of Singapore, are SICK. OF. SUMMER !!!

One Time - beabadoobee 

One Time doesn’t truly pick up till its final forty-five seconds — but when it does, musician Beatrice Kristi, professionally known as Beabadoobee, ups the rock ante she’s been delving into for years. Kristi and her band begin the final three-verse repetition with a tense bassline, before gradually overlaying the instrumental with drums, heavy cymbals and a guitar shred that threatens to drown out even Kristi’s unusually firm, mantra-like voice. <“keep on faking just to make it / what’s the point of fixing problems? when it’s broken, we were shameless / and we never try to solve ‘em.”> Frustration lives and breathes in the background of One Time and comes alive after nearly two minutes of anticipatory build-up. It’s hard not to draw parallels to regular Junes in too-sunny Singapore — the slow simmer of heat, ever-present in the background, climbing and peaking till, like beabadoobee, we can’t help but release the boil in one fell swoop. 

Brutal Olivia Rodrigo - brutal (Lyric Video)

A lilting melody draws the listener into a tranquil state of mind, before a voice cuts in, and the heavy beats of the bass slams in. That’s Brutal by Olivia Rodrigo for you! Brutal explores how the anxieties and frustrations of teenage life take over, with an overpoweringly powerful beat, to encapsulate the overwhelming, stressful and messy transition to adulthood. This song navigates the slow crawl to adulthood all teenagers face, with everything thrown at her seemingly ‘brutal’, with a constant use of the word ‘and’, Brutal reads as a long string of consciousness, with an onslaught of all her grievances piling up. The passionate nature in which she spits out her lyrics undermine the romanticised version of teenagers in movies and shows, firing out a disdainful “I’m so sick of seventeen, where’s my teenage dream”. As the song closes however, the song turns again from the pressurising beats into a slow, sad melody in which she reflects upon feeling hopeless as her anger drains away. This song captures the feeling of being pushed to the brink, until your bottled feelings have no choice but to explode out. As teenagers, this song is a perfect song to scream your lungs out to!!

Glory Of The Snow Clairo - Glory Of The Snow

Glory Of The Snow is the second last track of Clairo’s third album, Charm, which was released in July 2024. In the song, Clairo thinks fondly about a past relationship while accepting that she is ready for a fresh start. She expresses these feelings using the symbol of Glory of the Snow, a beautiful flower that blooms just after winter has ended and spring has begun, and represents a fresh new start. The flower is dormant in the summer, and the symbol almost makes it feel like Clairo is sick of summer too. The melody of the song also has a soft but cheery vibe that is reminiscent of a relaxing and quiet winter morning. So, if you want to forget the gruesome heat of summer, Glory Of The Snow is the perfect song to picture yourself enjoying the peaceful winter instead.

Chilly - NIKI 「Chilly - NIKI (lyrics)」

While the past month has been anything but Chilly, the sentimental piano notes that open the song set the tone for a heartfelt message dedicated to someone no longer in one’s life. The song was released in December of 2017, and, according to the singer, NIKI, was about craving companionship, but never being able to find the right person despite efforts to cast away old memories and move on. “ December’s feeling chilly.” is both a literal and figurative statement, as the singer makes references to both the cold weather and the lack of warmth accompanied by being alone. The dark and quiet atmosphere created by the combination of a simple sound and soft vocals encapsulates the feeling of a cold night in the city perfectly, and you might just be able to feel it if you close your eyes and put your headphones on! 

Summertime sadness - Lana Del Rey

The summer evokes images of warmth, light, freedom and joy - BUT this song flips the image 180 degrees. Despite being released in 2012, the song is still a moment in itself. It connects with listeners giving us permission to feel sadness in spaces where we are taught to perform happiness. Sultry vocals and sweeping instrumentals oozes old Hollywood glamour creating a melancholy aesthetic that’s both sad and beautiful. The viral remix gave it dance floor vibes, ironically turning a tragic ballad into a party anthem - effectively glamorizing the pain. Summertime sadness is for the ones who feel like outsiders during “fun seasons,” who find beauty in gloom and who carry their sadness with grace and mystery.