Prowl radio's songs of the summer 2025
Written by: prowl members| september 1, 2025
Welcome back, Prowlers! Summer has sadly come to an end, but we had amazing moments in the music world. Lorde released their highly anticipated album after four long years, and Tyler, The Creator encouraged everyone to let loose by dancing with DON’T TAP THE GLASS. After attending local shows, music festivals and listening to new releases, Prowl Radio members compiled recent songs that became their summer anthem, in no particular order.
"stars"- pinkpantheress
Ike Lavitschke and Beatrice Lavitschke
Nothing gets us going more than a PinkPantheress track and this one has to be our favorite. We are also super excited as we are seeing her live in Chicago this November!! RAHHH!!!
“ELDERBERRY WINE”- WEDNESDAY
Franklin Wahlstrom
My summer has been soundtracked by a lot of indie-country-folk-whatever artists like Wednesday and MJ Lenderman and Waxahatchee and this track has been at the center of all of it. It was a perfect choice for them to release the single at the start of summer and wait till September for the full album, it made me really sit with the single all summer and now nearing the end of the season I feel ready for the album.
"the way you tune it out"- jer
Jack Kuzma
The Way You Tune It Out is my pick for song of the summer. It’s another banger by one of my favorite musicians in the ska scene currently, JER. It is both insanely fun and catchy to the ears while also having great lyrics about how some people just tune out how awful the world is right now. JER’s lyrical work and the horn section in this song just really work in this track. The full album is really worth a listen and the death of the heart theme present through the album is an fantastic representation of the times we are in now.
“SEVENTEEN”- MARK WILLIAM LEWIS
Espen Hammes
Mark William Lewis’s latest single, “Seventeen,” anthemed my summer, bridging together a first and second year at college. A follow-up to his somber yet soothing tracks “Still Above” and “Tomorrow is Perfect,” mark william lewis is teasing an atmospheric-sounding sophomore album. Lewis, the former touring drummer for bar italia, has just signed with A24 Music, and his new LP, aptly titled Mark William Lewis, is set to be released under the label this September. It sounds like the final moments of one’s childhood, echoing the bittersweet triumph that slowly comes with growing up. I enjoyed it this summer while hiking throughout Wisconsin and Iowa, adding it to my playlists of new songs from Geese, fakemink, and The Hellp.
"the giver" chappel roan
Stephanie Serrano
I love every artistic creation Chappel Roan produces. Her SNL performance of this song was amazing! Her style, sound and theatrics never miss! Country is not my favorite music genre whatsoever, but when Chappel calls out men that aren’t getting the job done for their lover, she makes it work.
“GODS OF ROCK N ROLL” FT. STEVE STEVENS- OZZY OSBOURNE AND BILLY MORRISON
Skylar Gerber
As the summer of ‘25 comes to an end, so does a chapter of metal history. Ozzy Osbourne’s death, only weeks after his last reunion concert with the heavy metal legends of Black Sabbath, pierced deeply into the heart of every “Rock N Roll” fan. This song— aptly titled “Gods of Rock N Roll”— is Ozzy’s last song and a parting gift to over seven decades of head-bangin’ heaviness. In a symphonic ballad composed of both a 61-piece orchestra and a high school choir, the emotive and melodic voice of Ozzy gives us his last metal rites: “Will someone pray for me, pray to save my soul for me?”. I will never experience a summer quite like this one again and heavy metal will never experience another man like Ozzy Osbourne. So I say to this summer—and to Ozzy— goodbye to our own ‘God of Rock N Roll’.
"never go down"- pacing
Frances DeLeon
The song “Never Go Down” by the band Pacing is a new take on a mr rogers song katie mctigue took at shot at rewriting a song only looking at the lyrics and made something a little more special than the original with lots of heart and soul never go down is a highlight on the bands new album right after they got signed to san jose label “asian man records”
"dreaming"- turnstile
Molly Wilde
This summer I got into the band Turnstile right as they released their 5th album, NEVER ENOUGH. It’s such a beautiful album, start to finish, and experiments with its genre, traditional hardcore punk, and combines it with synthy sounds. Along side the album release, the band made a visual album movie that played in theaters and I was lucky enough to catch it at the Oriental. A visually stunning experience I won’t forget!
"golden burning sun"- miley cyrus
Ethan Ainley
Miley Cyrus’ Something Beautiful is one of my favorite albums of the year so far, and my favorite track, “Golden Burning Sun,” is my song of the summer. It’s a subdued song that encapsulates the feeling of finding your one and only love, the person you want to ride with on a motorcycle into the sunset. The production is strong, making it sound as if you are on the back of that cycle, with the wind passing by and the roar of an engine. My favorite lyric is “You’re the only one under the golden burning sun. Can I have you if I never let you down?” These lyrics are followed by Cyrus desperately belting the word “Surrender” repeatedly. The bridge is a heavenly buildup of synths before the chorus charges back into the song. “Golden Burning Sun” was the perfect love song for my summer.
"next to nothing"- aly & aj
“Next to Nothing” is where we all seem to find ourselves these days. This track from sister-duo Aly & AJ’s latest album Silver Deliverer was the perfect song for a walk on the beach this summer. The song features the sisters’ perfect harmonies, a killer drum and groovy guitar strums. They sing about a summer fling relationship that they want to see become something more serious. My favorite lyric is the simple “Hear me out” that the sisters belt out together. As the song ends, there is a layering of their voices, a nice amalgamation of stringed instruments and the lyric “And we’ve got that summer feeling,” proving why this is a perfect song for summer 2025.
"Got Me by the tail"- frost children
Moon Lafter
If anything, that song screams potential, it’s a bit silly and juvenile in it’s delivery, but what good is a silly summer song if it cant make the kids excited.
The song makes me think of trips to the gas station for ice cream, driving home from the marsh late at night and there are so, so many bugs. Planning trips further out, planning days with friends, planning to drive to your sister’s apartment 4 hours away to see her cat. The summer has infinite potential. If only it wasn’t so damn hot.
