Courtesy of @bouquetofparantheses

With the first day of autumn behind us, some people yearn to cling to the vestigial sunrays, warm summer breeze, and the sun glinting off of anything gold. The following playlist is ideal to relax in a hammock or on a rooftop to, mint lemonade in hand, outdoor heater blasting synthetic palm-rustling gusts into your face. Relive the past months through steel drums, folk acoustics, and the summery pep to pretend like the temperature isn’t dropping and you don’t have to pull your sweaters from the back of your closet.

Love it or hate it, “Work” dominated the summer charts – carrying with it an island ambience, percolating beat and all. It marked the end of Rihanna’s hiatus as the first single released from Anti, and is considered the first dancehall song to top the Billboard Hot 100’s since Big Sean did so in 2006. Following on the urban dancehall vibes is Canadian singer Ramriddlz’s “Call Me”, steel-drum infused and captivating in its own right – the music video is rightfully shot near a jungle in Jamaica. Kali Uchis’s “Ridin Round” seizes the reggae-pop influences into a song simply made for blasting from car windows.

Tyler, the Creator leads the playlist into a soft, mellow interlude with “Fucking Young/Perfect” (his albumCherry Bomb encompasses more summery vibes, and contains an entire song featuring the aforementioned Kali Uchis called “Yellow”, with the lyrics: “it’s like the endless summer, endless summer”). “West Coast” and “Rhiannon” accent those warm days you’d curl up in the sunrays streaming through your window, while “Ivy” is that melodramatic, contemplative tune that washes over you as you gaze at the clouds in deep introspection.

The playlist tapers to an upbeat close with a variety of differing voices. Sofi Tukker, New York-based duo, launches into the dance track “Drinkee” – as if their album art is any indication of its sunny nature, the buoyant tune (accented by lively snaps) engages the listener from beginning to end. Then, Stereo Total’s “C’est la mort”, while containing rather morbid French lyrics, delivers a peppy, synth-infused track which is sure to add a bounce to your steps. M.I.A. revives the reggae-pop from the first third of the playlist with “Double Bubble Trouble”, enhanced by the solid beat and Indian strings to cement her place as an icon of contemporary world music. And there is something undeniably evocative of warmth and the sun from music of the 60’s, particularly beach music – yet the long-hailed “Dancing in The Street” deviates slightly in its rhythm and blues grandeur, making it difficult to not follow Martha and the Vandellas’s call to action: “Summer’s here and the time is right/For dancin’ in the streets”. To me, “Disciples” is the kind of track which would play at the end of a summer teen movie from the 80’s or 90’s, when everybody parts ways to attend their respective post-graduation plans – or something like that. Just like summer, the final moments are fleeting, and slip by before you know it. Listen to the playlist below to relive the past months, or to forget that the leaves aren’t turning orange and that a chill hasn’t set over the city.