BEST CHILL MUSIC: 10 SONGS FOR A SCORCHING WEEKEND

Photo by Junia Jonsdottir

The weekend is almost here, and it's looking like it's going to be a scorcher! Did somebody say Ice Cream O'Clock? BUT WAIT! Before we start raiding our freezers for leftover tubs of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia, it's time for the latest edition of We Are: The Guard's Best Chill Music! Featuring Laufey, Fiji Blue, Rachel Bobbitt, and plenty of others, this roundup has something for summer mixtapes everywhere!

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LAUFEY – DEAR SOULMATE

The countdown to Laufey's debut album, Everything I Know About Love, continues this month with the deeply exquisite "Dear Soulmate." Coming after "Fragile," "Dear Soulmate" hears the Icelandic cellist addressing her future lover. "Dear soulmate/Do you think of me 'cause I do?/Do you have green eyes or are they brown like mine?/Do you have a sister too?" questions Laufey – her timeless voice arching like a Hollywood siren over a graceful swell of strings. "Dear soulmate/One day I'll give this song to you."

FIJI BLUE – PICTURE

It's no secret Fiji Blue comes alive during summertime, with the Los Angeles duo celebrating the arrival of the season with their latest EP, I Loved You, What Happened. "This song was written with the intention of giving life to fleeting memories we hold onto so dearly," explains Fiji Blue of the EP highlight "Picture." "Moments with others may be temporary but love has a strange way of never fully letting go." An iridescent, shimmery slice of heartache, "Picture" is an essential addition to all summer mixtapes.

RACHEL BOBBITT – BANDAGES

Earlier this year, Rachel Bobbitt made her debut on We Are: The Guard with her gorgeously wispy tribute to her twin brother "Gemini Ties," and now, the Canadian artist is once again delving deep into our souls on the despairing "Bandages." "'Bandages' is about the helpless feeling of loving someone who is struggling," says Rachel. "It's a very hard pill to swallow that sometimes loving someone is not enough to make them better." A crushing depiction of another person's pain, "Bandages" brings out the tears.

SEAFRET – PICTURES

British duo Seafret is reminding us to treasure our memories before they fade like an old Polaroid left out in the sun too long on their deeply emotional latest single, "Pictures." According to Seafret, "Pictures" was "inspired by images of having a child and how you never want them to grow up." "It can also be totally open with moments in life that you just don't want to end," adds Jack Sedman and Harry Draper of the cut – a softly tender acoustic ballad that not only tugs at the heartstrings, but fully ties them into knots.

JAGUAR SUN – MOONLIGHT

Jaguar Sun never fails to take us to a place of sparkling melancholy, with the Canadian act doing it once again on "Moonlight." Lifted from his recent sophomore album, All We've Ever Known - alongside the previously featured "One Day," "With You," and "Broken Record" – "Moonlight" is a swaying waltz that finds Jaguar Sun dancing amid the fading embers of a crush: "I've drifted in the moonlight/I've danced without you by my side/But I know one day I'll find you/And live the life I nearly had." Glistening stuff

ZEDS DEAD – I TOOK A RIDE

Just a few days on from hosting DeadRocks Festival – featuring Mersiv, Blanke, Hybrid Minds, IMANU, DNMO, Kumarion, and more – Canada's Zeds Dead is back this Friday with "I Took a Ride." While Zeds Dead is typically known for their big blasts of bass, "I Took a Ride" hears Dylan "DC" Mamid and Zachary "Hooks" Rapp-Rovan instead opting for a more tranquil, atmospheric approach. With deep female vocals resonating over a soothing downstream of beats, "I Took a Ride" leaves its listeners floating.

LITCHE (FEAT. SARAH LAW) – A DREAM, BUT IT'S REAL

We've already heard "Bad Connection" and "Colour of You," and now, Australian producer and singer-songwriter Litche is offering up a final single from his brand new EP, Some Songs for Someone, Somewhere. A collaboration with Fettuccine's Sarah Law, "A Dream, But It's Real" is a distant, dazzling fantasia that immerses us in an altered state of consciousness. Litche: "I have always tended to be a vivid dreamer, so I was inspired to make this track to lean into that seemingly other half of life's reality."

MONTELL FISH – LOVE YOU MORE THAN ME

Montell Fish keeps on getting better and better. Ever since he made his debut on We Are: The Guard with "Fall in Love With You" in November, the Pittsburgh gospel singer-turned-TikTok star has had us in a chokehold, with Montell doing it all over again with the devastating "Love You More Than Me." "Girl, I love you more than myself/You should know I'd give up anything for you," aches Montell – the falsetto reaches of his voice striving for the Gates of Heaven over a distant echoing of guitar. Haunting.

DAPHNI – CLOUDY

He recently performed a set at the iconic, legendary Glastonbury Festival as Caribou, but this Friday, Canada's Dan Snaith is returning the focus to his Daphni handle with "Cloudy." Featured on Daphni's forthcoming fourth album, Cherry, "Cloudy" is a fun, groovy seven-minute dance opus that hears Dan pairing itchy vocal chops and tinkering pianos with a big, funky bassline. Dan: "The essence of this one is keeping it aloft – like occasionally nudging a balloon that's only just heavier than air to keep it afloat."

44 ARDENT – INTO THE DEEP

In May, 44 Ardent announced Into the Deep EP with the reggaeton-esque "nomoreheat," and this month, the Australian is back with the roaring title cut. Clocking in at three minutes, "intothedeep" hears 44 Ardent continuing to take inspiration from climate change, with the Mammal Sounds signee calling this "the 'ocean' song." "''intothedeep' is probably my favorite song on the whole record," adds 44 Ardent of the piece – a tempestuous house banger that still manages to find the calm amid the storm.

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Jess Grant is a frustrated writer hailing from London, England. When she isn't tasked with disentangling her thoughts from her brain and putting them on paper, Jess can generally be found listening to The Beatles, or cooking vegetarian food.