The best songs this summer sound like total nonsense. That's a good thing.

• Viral hits by Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, and Tinashe point to a bigger trend in pop music.
• So far, this summer has been dominated by "smooth brain" songs — fun, silly, powered by good vibes.
• This may be a reaction to the recent onslaught of bad news, sparking a greater need for escapism.

This time last year, I woke up every morning and played "The Record" by boygenius from top to bottom.