SUMMER PLAYLIST

Summer is fast approaching, meaning we finally get the time to relax for a while, free from the impending doom of IB deadlines creeping up on us like weary creatures…

And what better way to distress than listening to some music? No matter what genre you’re into, music is the perfect way to improve your wellbeing and get into the summer spirit. Keeping in mind that everyone has very different tastes, here is a staple summer playlist with songs from ranging genres for all to enjoy. Hopefully, one or two of these songs or artists can improve the quality of your summer!

CYANIDE - Daniel Caesar

Staple piece of a great summer playlist? At least one R&B track. R&B is arguably the most versatile genres. Daniel Caesar is able to create R&B songs with subtlety that guarantees to give you some peace of mind, while equally being able to get your head bopping. CYANIDE is a perfect ensemble of modern R&B with some hints of Reggae and Soul. Perfect song for a sunny beach day, trust me.

Ivy - Frank Ocean

Every playlist on earth needs at least one Frank Ocean track, and no, I’m not being biased. Ivy is a transcendent song, evoking that ‘floaty’ feeling you get from certain things. If you’re looking for a song that can get you into a state of deep, melancholic thought, yet also mitigate your mind from the heaviness of life, then look no further. Ivy’s what you’ve been looking for.

Wild

Irish Roses - Smino

The rhythm of this song is nothing but eliciting. It’s a laid-back Hip Hop song that truly carries you elsewhere. Wild Irish Roses’ slow tempo perfect gets you in an undistributed trance. Speaking of tempo, ‘Tempo’ is another amazing song by Smini. I would recommend checking it out too!

Social

Sites - Cosmo Pyke

Cosmo Pyke’s mix-genre music is so diverse yet so fluent. Social Sites is a song that represents the static moments of life. Sometimes, doing nothing is doing something. So, although summer’s a good opportu- nity to do loads of new things and prepare yourself for the coming school year, it’s also a good time to sit back and just let life come as it is.

Charm - Rema

Nothing is more perfect for a season of relaxation, sun and parties than afrobeats. Rema is a newer afrobeats artist that gives a modern spin to this genre. His songs are rhythmic and uplifting. As someone who grew up around afrobeats, they are a necessity to a summer playlist.

Why just 5? Well, that’s all we’ve got room for. I’m sure you can fill out the rest of the playlist with you own selections. Until we meet again, enjoy the summer!

Songs like charm get you hype and in the mood to dance, Practically a match in heaven for those that want a more upbeat summer.

And that’s about it! I hope one of these songs finds a place in your summer playlists!

by Lia Tesfaye

IS THE ROMANCE IN THE BOOKS IN THEIR SCREEN ADAPTATIONS? OR

As final exams are officially behind us, we finally feel like we can breathe again. After spending most of our time engulfed by education and studies, it may be a bit perplexing to fall back into what was once our everyday routine. Reading, being one of my passions in life, goes well with my love of watching, so I have taken the opportunity to merge my two passions into an intriguing article: comparing and contrasting books to their film adaptations. I imagine reading and watching will be part of everyone’s summer routine. So consider this piece your read/watch recommendation, by yours truly.

To start we have “Heartstopper” written by Alice Oseman, a graphic novel series that was adapted into a series on Netflix. It is a coming-of-age story full of new love, friendship, comedy and as expected some drama stirred into the characters’ lives to spice things up for the audience. The Netflix series takes place at a much faster rate than the plot of the novels, which takes its longevity to portray essential depth that we as the mainstream audience tend not to find. I would rate the film version as a pretty accurate, intriguing and a captivating adaptation of the novel that can be appreciated by a larger audience than the novels.

Similar to “Heartstopper”, there is “The Summer I Turned Pretty”, another young adult romance written by Jenny Han which was adapted from a book trilogy into a TV series. The novels tend to follow the slow-paced love story where we as the readers are new to the story and discover things along with the protagonist, while in the adaptation we are thrown into a world without context and are expected to form a coherent plot. Both storylines, however, are still about the love triangle between our three protagonists as they navigate through life together. As a critic I would rate this adaptation as an underdeveloped plot lacking structure in comparison to the novels which were consistent even if the plot felt unrealistic.

Next we have “To All the Boys I Have Loved Before”, also written by Jenny Han. It follows another teen through her complex love life as the audience is introduced to the protagonist’s concept of true love, unreciprocated love, crushes, friendship and family. The film adaptation follows the same plot with a slight difference to the ending, as the book closed on a more realistic tone. Lastly, we have “The Kissing Booth”, written by Beth Reekles. This is a teen romantic comedy with the love having more of a forbidden ingredient that draws the audience in. The screen adaptation strongly focuses on the comedy aspect making the whole plot seem a bit ridiculous and unrealistic where the book carries more drama across for the reader.

As my honorable mention, “Dune”, a novel written by Frank Herbert is a science fiction heritage story that was adapted into 2-part movie with an untapped love story. For this one I’ll let you decide. Which do you prefer, the pages or the screen? As you can see from my review, it might take longer to get into, but the pages always offer more.