Summer is fast approaching in the UK, and while this time of year the airwaves are typically littered with sun-soaked dance hits, you wouldn’t quite know of the changing seasons at first glance of the UK’s music charts.
Artists like Taylor Swift, Noah Kahan and Beyoncé have been experiencing unrivalled success in the charts, with tracks ‘Fortnight’, ‘Stick Season’ and ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ respectively topping the UK Top 40, reflecting a shift to folk and country listener tastes in the mainstream market, that normally favours uptempo bangers at this time of year.
It’s a change that has left some big name artists largely in the dark. Dua Lipa raced to new heights with her hugely successful mid-COVID ‘Future Nostalgia’ release, but the string of dance records leading up to her ‘Radical Optimism’ album have not commanded the type of chart success she is now used to, against a backdrop of country ballads and folk anthems. Even her claim that the new material was inspired by UK rave culture and acts like Massive Attack and Primal Scream fell flat.
Beyoncé may have summarised this shift succinctly during the release of ‘Cowboy Carter’ which was initially lined up to drop before her dance-heavy ‘Renaissance’ album. “There was too much heaviness in the world”, she said in a press release, explaining why she held onto her country record until March 2024: “We wanted to dance. We deserved to dance.”
But it seems the post-COVID need for dance, which boomed after we were locked away in our homes for two years, may have disappeared in the face of harsh economic realities and gloomy national forecasts plaguing the country.
A recently released IPSOS poll showed that over two thirds of Brits feel like the UK is entering decline, a mood reflected recent listener habit changes, with mellow tracks like Djo’s ‘End of Beginning’ taking the place of summer thumpers like Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding’s eight-week chart topper ‘Miracle’, which was filling dancefloors up and down the country this time last year.
Of course, while it is summer, it certainly doesn’t seem that way when you look at the forecasts. England recorded record amounts of rainfall from October 2022 to April 2024, according to recent Met Office figures. Countless studies have shown that weather can influence mood, and the gloomy, grey aesthetics of the country’s climate could be having a negative impact on people’s mental wellbeing, which may lead listeners away from the season’s favourite feel-good floorfillers and on to sounds that better represent the country’s current low morale.
Psychotherapist and author Eloise Skinner says there could be a link. She told NME: “If there’s a general low mood in the country, this can certainly feed into the content we choose to engage with. Music can serve a number of emotional or psychological purposes: it can help us regulate our moods, provide a sense of relatability or recognition, and offer a cathartic experience, helping us work through challenging times or emotions.
“As well as a trend towards slower or alternative genres, we might also have a sense of avoiding the more traditional upbeat summer music – that type of music might result in a feeling of dissonance, against the backdrop of various global and national challenges. And even for those who might have swayed towards a more upbeat preference, it’s easy to be influenced by national trends – we mostly hear trending music, and so a general theme or preference can be easily amplified and consolidated.”
Baylen Leonard, Creative Director of country music festival The Long Road, adds that the rise of country music dominance in the UK is no surprise: “Country music has always been about storytelling and particularly for a UK listener, escapism. It makes sense that the country is having such a huge moment internationally right now when everyone is looking for community and a good time.”
Dancefloors themselves could also be feeling the effects of this change, with the night time economy also taking a hit from financial pressures
PRYZM boss Peter Marks told the BBC that cost of living pressures were “singularly the biggest issue that we face”, following a string of the club’s closures in vibrant cities including Leeds and Nottingham.
Eloise Skinner agrees that a lack of dance music exposure could also impact the nighttime industry: “If we’re less likely to hear dance or club music on nights out, our preferences for seeking out this type of music might be reduced, and we might lean towards music better suited for evenings in or relaxed social gatherings”, she told NME.
However, Negla Abdela, Managing Director at Ministry of Sound, has a more upbeat forecast for dance music, suggesting that the genre is not the only one affected by changing listener tastes.
“I don’t think dance music specifically is being impacted in isolation,” she told NME, “similar trends are happening across other genres, you can still see success with artists like Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and more recently Badger.
“I believe the time of year also plays a part as we’re only just seeing the start of Ibiza’s opening season and festivals are on the way which have a huge impact in breaking dance records. Audiences definitely still want to dance and in a post-COVID era, festivals and clubs finally feel like they did before the pandemic.“
The sentiment is echoed particularly within the underground dance scene with many events and raves packed to the rafters with punters, and sell out shows spilling across the season. As we speak, London-based DJ Michael Bibi is preparing for one of dance music’s most hotly anticipated events of the year, following his triumphant battle against cancer last year.
His 45,000-capacity Finsbury Park show, billed as London’s “biggest ever” electronic show, is to raise funds for the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, which the DJ says “helped save my life.“
Similarly, some of the country’s most iconic venues seem to have adapted to the rising demand of underground dance events. KOKO Camden, once almost exclusively considred an indie music mecca, expanded its horizons into the dance sphere by hosting DJ’s and punters for their popular ‘KOKO Electronic’ nights, which launched in 2022.
Marwan Kamel, Head of KOKO Electronic said: “At that time we were unsure if people would come out post covid, but it’s been an amazing success story and has been humbling to be a part of.”
He noted that dance music will continue to thrive despite popularised trends: “Electronic music will always exist outside of the mainstream and there will always be demand for events whether songs are in the charts or not. It’s important to understand the origins of dance music and its pioneering genres. House music came straight from the underground thanks to Black culture whilst Disco undoubtedly emerged from queer nightlife. “
Negla Abdela highlights that successful shows and events across the summer season signal the sounds continuing success: “Dance music fans want to experience music in real life with their peers and community and you can see this reflected in the culture with artists being able to sell out shows to bigger crowds than ever and venues like Drumsheds attracting new audiences.”
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