As summer slowly melts into fall,the songs that defined the warmer monthsare coming into clearer view. While last year's soundtrack was dominated bygrunge queen Charli XCX's"Brat" and bubble gum pop from the likes ofSabrina CarpenterandChappell Roan,2025's mixtape looks a little different. An announcement on Aug. 27from Spotifynamed five songs of the summer, hand-selected by themusic streaming giant'sglobal editorial team based on "streaming data, cultural impact, and editorial insight," according to a company release. Here are the songs (in alphabetical order of artist name): "Ordinary" by Alex Warren "Shake It To The Max (FLY) – Remix" by MOLIY, Silent Addy, Skillibeng & Shenseea "Love Me Not" by Ravyn Lenae "Manchild" bySabrina Carpenter "back to friends" by sombr While the five anthems selected are hardly slow-moving ballads, they do reflect a more raw, emotion-soaked sensibility, swapping the high-octane tunes of 2024 for a wistful sound. If any clues are to be taken from their lyricism, it's that carefree summer flings may be so yesterday, replaced instead by love-doomed (or drenched) entanglements. Earlier this year, when Spotify released a list of contenders for the song of the summer, social media users derided the tracks, and the general state of summer anthems. Music fans voiced frustration with the lack of clear contenders for the 2025 title, saying no song has gained the same level of momentum as Carpenter's caffeinated earworm "Espresso" orKendrick Lamar'sGrammy-winning diss track"Not Like Us." Does 2025 have a song of the summer?The internet has doubts Carpenter, of course, has not yet given up her crown, scoring a spot on the list with her eye-rolling single "Manchild" ahead of anew album, "Man's Best Friend".Warren's track,however, represents a bit of a divergence, offering a wedding first-dance sound, and notching in with the rising popularity of artists like Teddy Swims and Benson Boone. Their lyrics offer clear-cut love stories and raspy belting breaks. If there's one clear common thread, however, it's the prevalence of all five tracks onTikTok. As the short-form video app continues to enjoy widespread popularity, it has emerged as a kingmaker in the music industry, gifting some musicians overnight success in a manner radio could never have provided. That may be the very issue at play, though. "Everyone's designing music for a TikTok algorithm, and they're not actually making music that people want to listen to," Wyatt Torosian, a marketing professional from Los Angeles,previously told USA TODAY. "As artists keep designing songs for algorithms, there's going to be less and less songs that even have the staying capacity to last for an entire summer." Contributing: Anthony Robledo This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Song of the summer 2025? Spotify crowns top hits