THE EDIT • July 2022

Five Spotify playlists for every kind of holiday

Whether it’s the song playing on a distant radio as you make eye contact with ‘the one’ around the pool, or the epic ballad that hits its crescendo just as you hike to the top of a breath-taking peak, music can be the perfect travel companion. Below, music journalist Michael Cragg celebrates British Airways Holidays’ Spotify collection with his choice of five soundtracks to suit five holiday vibes…

For the open road

All-out 90s
A long road trip requires familiarity, genre diversity and huge singalongs, so a playlist spanning an entire decade is perfect for a car-based adventure. Plus, with Beyoncé, Drake and Charli XCX leading pop’s 90s revival, the timing feels right. Where else could you singalong to ‘C’est la Vie’, ‘The Boy is Mine’ and ‘You Oughta Know’? Just leave the shell suit at home, thank you.

For the transatlantic trip

New York by British Airways Holidays
No city deserves its own soundtrack more than The Big Apple. Which is handy, because very few artists haven’t mentioned it in song form. Why not spin around Times Square miming along to ‘Empire State of Mind’, or channel some of Brooklyn’s irrepressible cool via the Beastie Boys or The Strokes? If all else fails, whack on ‘Jenny from the Block’ and strut.

For the outdoorsy retreat

Taylor Swift – Folklore
After years at pop’s coalface, Taylor Swift donned a big coat and retreated into the woods for 2020’s rustic surprise drop, Folklore. The perfect soundtrack to an around-the-campfire singalong (‘Cardigan’, ‘August’), or a sun-dappled autumn picnic (‘The 1’, ‘Mirrorball’), it oozes a playing-cards-inside-a-wood-cabin feel to elevate any return to nature.

For the detox

HS Music, Vol 1
Guided meditation app Headspace offers up blissful, wordless portals in which to escape. If your holiday is all about leaving the real world behind, then chances are you don’t want to listen to anything that could send you crashing back down to earth. Pop this on, take up the child’s pose or sip on a smoothie and forget literally everything. And... relax.

For the wild one

Dua Lipa – Club Future Nostalgia
If your holiday is focused on partying all night and sleeping (around the pool) all day, then you’ll want something with a high BPM that can slowly ease you back into the zone. Worried about flagging at the prospect of another heavy one? Just head to Club Future Nostalgia, a place where pop’s biggest hits – ‘Don’t Start Now’, ‘Levitating’, ‘Physical’ – have been given a dance-floor-ready retwizzle.