The First Song of the Summer
It may only be the end of April, but I know that I’m looking forward to the summer. I mean, I live in San Francisco, where summer is fog season, so it’s not like it’s going to be warm, but there are warm places nearby. It’s also not like I really like being warm, but who doesn’t like some sunshine?
My pasty skin and poor geographic placement aside, I do love summer music. It’s not even summer, why does the DJ keep on playing “Summertime Sadness?” Watermelon Sugar, high. I gotta feeling that tonight’s gonna be a good night. Good gracious, ass is bodacious. Summer music can transport you to a sunny beach with a cold cocktail in your hand in any number of different places, or if you are, in fact, on such a beach, it can fuel the party.
2026 is off to a good start, I would say. What I’ll call a “classic beach song,” filled with references to the sun, surf, surfing, and lots of sex, is always a good candidate for “song of the summer,” especially when it’s this catchy. Colombian reggaeton stars J Balvin and Ryan Castro wrote quite a simple song, but it has one of my favorite choruses in recent memory: “P’al agua que está haciendo calor, mi amor. (To the water ‘cause it’s getting hot, my love.) Tu piel está pidiéndote sol. (Your skin is asking for the sun.) Y ese bikini se le ve cabrón a tu cuerpo. (And that bikini looks banging on your body.)” But it’s not just the lyrics; it’s the way the chorus is constructed. It’s just catchy as hell and makes you want to sing along—even if you don’t speak Spanish. It even references the fantastic 2025 album by fellow Colombiana Karol G, Tropicoqueta.
“Pal Agua” has all of the makings of a great song of the summer, and as Bad Bunny proved last year, Spanish-language music can dominate the market. It was just announced that J Balvin and Ryan Castro will be releasing a full dual album on May 7 called Omerta, and, presumably, this is the lead single from this album. I look forward to hearing it!
Enjoy this first hint of the summer, and I look forward to covering other summer songs until San Francisco summer ends near Halloween.