Cast your mind back to last summer. You might remember how Barbie—and its soundtrack—set things off, “pink-pilling” the nation. Or you may recall Taylor Swift’s Eras tour reviving local economies and sending seismic waves rumbling through the ground and making Beyoncé’s own stadium tour only the second most sought-after ticket in town. Country music ruled; Gwyneth Paltrow turned the courtroom into a runway. Every day, if you’re a pop culture vulture like me, was a showstopper.
This summer things look different, and even a little dismal. The biggest movie blockbusters so far are about a cartoon cat, Pop-Tarts, and an attempt to make tennis sexy. Jennifer Lopez just canceled her summer tour after an attempt at rebranding it fell flat. Olivia Rodrigo, once-beloved Gen Z Avril Lavigne, is now better known as a throwback for Gen X dads. And Billie Eilish recently hosted a live listening party, brought to you by American Express. Meanwhile, The New York Times declared the hottest act touring right now to be the 80-year-old Mick Jagger.
That’s right, it’s officially a flop girl summer. Last year we went a little too hard on the glitz, glitter, and confetti, and now we have nothing left to give.
Since last summer, we’ve had 31 new songs from Taylor Swift, 27 from Beyoncé, and an entire media company from Dua Lipa to promote her album Radical Optimism, which debuted at number one before sales fell by nearly 90 percent the following week. Sure, Drake and Kendrick Lamar gave us a rap beef that made it all the way to the Oval Office, but even that fizzled out two months too soon.
But let’s be honest: we’re tired. And a flop girl summer gives us exactly what we need—a long-awaited break.
One exception is Sabrina Carpenter, whose steamy and energetic song “Espresso” has been owning the season so far. I’m looking forward to lazily playing it on the beach along with her upcoming album, Short n’ Sweet. It’s set to come out August 23. I hope it delivers on its title.
Evan Gardner is an intern at The Free Press. Follow him on X @EvanGardne9, and read his piece, “Country Music and Me: My Great Migration in the Wrong Direction.”
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Evan,
The Olympics are coming up and NBC’s coverage is always notoriously pedestrian.
Might I suggest you embrace this freedom from pop-girl culture to research those events that don’t get coverage in the US and bring us the worthwhile content we won’t get from the monopoly of NBC coverage? I don’t want to hear about Caitlin Clark not playing on the women’s volleyball team or whatever form of badminton she’s supposed to be so good at; I want some coverage of fencing, equestrian, judo, weightlifting, etc. Honestly, I would love to hear about the badminton tournament as long as it’s about the actual Olympics and not about Caitlyn Clerk not being there.
*No, “badminton” was not a typo.
I love films but I’ve been hiking every Saturday for several weeks now. While good films and good TV shows appear every now and then, there’s not much to watch these days. It’s worth getting outside, getting moving, and soaking in green trees and sun while it’s available. With great HDR TVs and Blu-ray no one is going to miss anything they can’t watch in a month or so.