New songs for July 13th 2026

 here they are:


"Beaches in Tennessee" by Cage the Elephant:  This bass-heavy indie-pop/rock song from CTE is a catchy one, but there's more than meets the eye than just how memorable it sounds. The song isn't about having fun on the beach, despite what its summer-slated release and energetic sound might make you think. It's actually about Matt Shultz's three-month stay at a psychiatric ward in Tennessee. Just as their 2024 breakout single, "Neon Pill," chronicled Matt's detainment from a hotel, "Beaches in Tennessee" is the song that picks up from where "...Pill" left off. Matt boldly declares he will not go back to the "beaches in Tennessee" where he was before. It's not the beaches themselves that gave him bad memories - it's what he did near that area! 

"Can Old Lovers Ever Be Just Friends?" by Tom Odell (featuring The Lumineers):  While I've never been too big on Tom Odell's post-millennial take on soft piano pop/rock, The Lumineers have been a fave of mine since they debuted, so I was willing to give this song a listen. Odell's piano does provide an interesting counterpoint to the Lumi's softly strummed acoustic guitars and gently sighing cellos (a faint but anchoring electric guitar backs them as well this time). The song is exactly what you'd expect a song with this title to be about. A man splits from his partner after plunging deeper into alcohol addiction, feels bad, apologizes for it, and then wonders if he can ever have her companionship back despite his mistakes. Seems like he's pretty sure the answer is "no" despite never stating it out loud in the song. Even the singsongy "la la la"s in the outro don't mask the remorse Tom feels in the song!

"Field Song" by Mon Rovia:  In contrast to Mon Rovia's previous adult alt radio hit, the sweet-sounding but politically heavy "Heavy Foot," "Field Song" is a sweet song that centers around the initial thrills of new romance and developing nostalgia for it later on. The first 30 seconds have no instruments aside from clapping, and only acoustic guitar (and various bluegrass instrumentation) comes in to join the clapping from that point on, giving the song a kind of cozy, quiet intimacy. The song also ends how it began, with no instrumentation aside from clapping. Nice way to go full circle!

"High Hopes 3000" by Role Model:  Role Model had the unexpected country-rock chart topper of a hit last summer with "Sally, When the Wine Runs Out." Now that I've heard his latest, "High Hopes 3000," I get the impression that Role Model is not a musician who sounds the same way twice! In contrast to "Sally..."'s catchy, sleek take on country-rock, "High Hopes 3000" goes for more of a '70s soul flavor! Catchy '70s soul, not the smoother kind. It has a similar sound to soul-inflected pop/rock tunes of the era like "Saturday in the Park" or "My Old School" (but without near as much crazy-good guitar work as the latter). Much like how "Sally..." was about hooking up, "High Hopes 3000" seems to be about the same thing. Lyrics like "I get undressed/In the arms of a stranger/Then second guess/That ol' half sober behavior" indicate this as a lyrical theme of the song. It's a fun, catchy tune that will probably end up as a smash hit of summer 2026! Just one question - why the "3000" in the title?!

"Street of Dreams" by U2:  The first 20 seconds of this song make it seem like it's gonna veer towards the pop side of U2, but then The Edge's signature guitars come roaring in shortly after, setting the tone for U2's latest song, "Street of Dreams"! In this largely not-so-optimistic era, U2's latest material seems to be trying to reach for optimism while at the same time acknowledging how bleak things really are. Their previous single, "Song of the Future," about the early and unfortunate passing of Iranian protester Sarina Esmailzadeh, was a great example of this. As we inch into the other half of 2026, "Street of Dreams," while not about any specific person, seems to be about depending on God (optimism) to provide you with enough strength to carry on during difficult times (the more realistic angle). This is also one of the rare modern U2 songs where the guitar and bass both seem equally important.