Summer hits are an annual affair in the pop music world. These tunes, which become super popular during the warm season in the United States and Europe, are typically marked by upbeat rhythms and sunshine-y melodies.
The earworms currently dominating the charts worldwide span various genres, with Asian acts making a decent showing.
The Straits Times tracks this year's batch of feel-good hit songs guaranteed to put you in a good mood.
JUICE BY LIZZO
Genre: Pop/Funk/Hip-hop (youtu.be/XaCrQL_8eMY)
A single from American singerrapper and body-positivity icon Lizzo, Juice is an effervescent funk-pop song with retro, 1980s rhythms and self-empowering lyrics. "If I'm shinin', everybody gonna shine," she sings. "I was born like this, don't even gotta try."
I DON'T CARE BY ED SHEERAN & JUSTIN BIEBER
Genre: Dance pop (youtu.be/y83x7MgzWOA)
Two of the world's biggest solo male pop stars - Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber - come together for this tropical pop tune, I Don't Care. The recently married celebs sing about how they would rather hang out with their significant others than schmooze at parties. As Sheeran sings "Don't think I fit in at this party", Bieber laments that he is "crippled with anxiety".
OLD TOWN ROAD BY LIL NAS X
Genre: Country rap (youtu.be/w2Ov5jzm3j8)
As improbable as it may sound, a trap/country hybrid song is turning out to be one of the year's biggest mainstream hits so far and has made American rapper Lil Nas X an overnight star. Both the original and the remix, featuring country star Billy Ray Cyrus, went to No. 1 on Billboard and topped 20 other charts worldwide. "Can't nobody tell me nothin'," Lil Nas X sings defiantly in a song with lyrics about persevering until you find success.
BAD GUY BY BILLIE EILISH
Genre: Electro pop (youtu.be/DyDfgMOUjCI)
The biggest teenage singer in the pop music world right now, 17-year-old American Billie Eilish went from alternative music playlists to the mainstream pop charts with the release of her debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? in early 2019.
Album opener Bad Guy boasts an eccentric, yet playful melody, made all the more compelling by the singer-songwriter's ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) inflections.
SENORITA BY SHAWN MENDES AND CAMILA CABELLO
Genre: Pop/Latin (youtu.be/Pkh8UtuejGw)
Canadian pop star Shawn Mendes and Cuban-American siren Camila Cabello set temperatures rising - and tongues wagging - with the release of this sizzling duet and its steamy music video.
Tapping into the singers' Latin roots, the song topped 23 charts worldwide and photos of the pair behaving intimately in real life have since gone viral online.
BOY WITH LUV BY BTS FEATURING HALSEY
Genre: K-pop (youtu.be/XsX3ATc3FbA)
South Korean boy band phenomenon BTS roped in American pop singer Halsey for this infuriatingly catchy pop tune, the lead single from their massively popular sixth EP, Map Of The Soul: Persona.
The pastel-hued music video, featuring energetic choreography and surreal and glitzy backdrops, set a YouTube record of clocking the highest number of views within 24 hours of its release.
KILL THIS LOVE BY BLACKPINK
Genre: K-pop (youtu.be/2S24-y0Ij3Y)
With its blustering horns and marching band swagger, South Korean girl group Blackpink's Kill This Love is one of the most boisterous break-up anthems in pop. The quartet's polychromatic music video also kicked off a dance craze.
YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN BY TAYLOR SWIFT
Genre: Pop (youtu.be/Dkk9gvTmCXY)
American pop star Taylor Swift's seventh studio album, Lover, is not due until late next month, but the early singles are already burning up the charts worldwide.
You Need To Calm Down, with lyrics addressing her detractors and homophobia, boasts gigantic hooks and a flashy music video that is notable for its bevy of guest stars - Pop-rock singer Adam Lambert is seen tattooing talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres - and a reconciliation scene between Swift and former rival, singer Katy Perry.
SUCKER BY JONAS BROTHERS
Genre: Pop Rock (youtu.be/CnAmeh0-E-U)
Fans of American boy band Jonas Brothers waited six long years for a comeback single and Sucker certainly did not disappoint.
Driven by an incessant funk groove, the lavish music video shot in an English castle features the siblings with their celebrity wives - Joe Jonas and Game Of Thrones actress Sophie Turner; Nick and Indian actress Priyanka Chopra and Kevin and reality television personality Danielle Jonas.
SUNFLOWER (SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE) BY POST MALONE AND SWAE LEE
Genre: Pop/Hip-Hop (youtu.be/ApXoWvfEYVU)
First released in October last year, this collaboration between hip-hop artists Post Malone and Swae Lee has an unusually long shelf life and is still on Billboard's current Top 10 chart.
The dreamy, wistful track was written for the soundtrack to animated film Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, and lead character Miles Morales is seen singing along to this tune twice in the film.
