#thesecrethandshake

My summer playlist consists of songs I’ve always listened to while on Holiday with either family or friends that remind me of a beautiful place, or music I know has a upbeat tempo and sound that just makes me feel happy &I know summer is here.

Passion Pit. Passion Pit are one of my longest running summer sounds and I’ve always listened to them after a friend of mine told me about his experience watching them at Reading Festival. The sun was beaming down on main stage and Passion Pit start their set. ‘Sleepy Head’ comes on and my friend explains how the band managed to get the entirety of the main stage audience to reach their heads up in the air and belt out the abnormal sound of ‘wa wa wa wa waaaa, wa wa wa wa wa waaaa’. Now every time I hear them come on I picture a hot sunny festival.

Matt & Kim. My sister introduced me to Matt & Kim while on holiday in the Caribbean, sailing around the British Virgin Islands. She played 'Daylight’ from the album Grand. Straight away I acknowledged that is this probably one of the most upbeat songs ever released and I don’t think it’s possible to listen to this track in a bad mood.

Aer. #FreshAerMovement, the movement overrun by the summer stoner. Aer is purely upbeat stoner rap and there is an absolute beauty about it. My friend introduced 'Floats My Boat’ to me on the summer of 2012 while being standard college students sitting in a field passing around an awfully rolled joint. Obviously everyone got all excited comparing the opening lyrics to our current situation. But those are the days you never forget, and wish you go back to.

Asher Roth. *Does not contain 'I Love College’ * I had to clear that up quickly before everyone, including me lost interest. 'Fallin’ The second song I heard off the album and quickly became a summer favourite. Similar to Aer; white, upbeat, college rap containing lyrics you can’t follow and tell quite an amusing story.

Coasts. I worked last summer on the French Island of Corsica and the beach bar had basically one summer long playlist. This was obviously extremely hard to be around, however now and again Coasts would make an appearance and that was 3-5 minutes of joy depending which track was chosen off their 'Paradise - EP’. This band takes me back to 6 months of “working” (Term used extremely lightly) on the beach.

Hellogoodbye. Obviously 'Here (In Your Arms)’ was going to make an appearance at some point or another. This is a track that everyone has heard and almost everyone pipes up and sings along as soon as the play button is pressed but I’m not sure anyone really knows how or when this song came into their life. All I know is this is a personal favourite of mine and my friend to contribute to a remarkable summer playlist.

Kate Nash. Though Foundations is obviously a great sing along track (covered awesomely by Newton Faulkner) that does not make the playlist. Feel free to add if necessary. Instead 'Birds’, another of Miss Nash’s quirky songs telling the story of a boy jumping barriers and buses to spend time with his girl. A very bubbly comical song, a great addition to the playlist.

The Lighthouse and The Whaler. Quite an unknown indie band which accompanies the playlist perfectly singing about falling in love (Like that’s never been sung about before), but it’s beat and the airiness to the singers voice seems to pull a cliché song off rather well.

Urban Cone. An mystical indie band with an extraordinary album 'Our Youth’ followed by 'Our Youth Pt. 2 - EP’. Another band, introduced by my sister, which straight away jumped out at me with the song 'We Should Go To France’ and as France and especially Paris is as I believe what dreams are made of (Wow, really?), this just seemed to work perfectly.

Summer Playlist:

Artist | Track | Album

Passion Pit | Carried Away | Gossamer

Passion Pit | Moths Wings | Manners

Passion Pit | Sleepy Head | Manners

Matt & Kim | Daylight | Grand

Matt & Kim | It’s Alright |  Lightning

The Secret Handshake | Summer Of ‘98 | One Full Year

The Secret Handshake | Coastal Cities |  One Full Year

Aer |  Floats My Boat | The Brightside

Aer |  Songbird | The Brightside

Aer | Feel I Bring | The Reach

Asher Roth | Fallin’ | Asleep In The Bread Aisle

Asher Roth | G.R.I.N.D | Asleep In The Bread Aisle

Coasts | Ocean | Paradise - EP

Hellogoodbye | Here (In Your Arms) | Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!

Kate Nash | Birds | Made Of Bricks

The Lighthouse And The Whaler | Venice | This Is An Adventure

Urban Cone | We Should Go To France | Our Youth

Urban Cone | Kings & Queens | Our Youth