Every summer, we make a playlist. It started because music is simply part of how we live here, and it has always been that way.
It keeps us moving through the long days of high season, soundtracks the mornings before the phones start and carries the nostalgia no photograph can ever quite capture.
This year's playlist has 50 tracks. Some are new. Some are not new at all, and that is entirely the point. Because we have never believed a summer playlist should only contain music from the current year.
Summer nostalgia is its own particular pleasure, and each song on this one takes us straight back to a specific terrace, balmy evening or version of us that was delighted to be exactly where we were.
The villas and their songs
In our minds, some tracks on this list belong to specific places in our collection. Here are the ones that felt most obvious.
Villa Thalassa — Chace, Keep Me Warm
Thalassa sits in a cove on the northern coast of Hvar, surrounded by oleanders and pine. There is a stone staircase at the bottom of the garden that leads directly into the sea. Keep Me Warm is a song for the morning before anyone else is awake.
Villa Gambo Bay — Fred again.. & JOY (Anonymous), peace u need
The only private residence in the protected bay of Mrtinovik. There are no neighbours here. You won’t hear noise from the road and the pine forest hits the water's edge. This track, recorded live at the Sydney Opera House, has exactly the quality of a place that exists slightly outside ordinary time.
Villa Lesina — Ezra Collective feat. Olivia Dean, No One's Watching Me
Lesina sits between two historic churches in Vrboska, with a kitchen that seats 12 and evenings that tend to run long. This is the song for the table after dinner, when nobody has moved yet (and doesn’t want to).
Villa Vinea — Cannons, Hurricane
Award-winning architecture on the cliffs of Sveta Nedjelja, a private vineyard and a cantilevered terrace pointing towards Šćedro. Cannons appear twice on this playlist because we love them so much. But this song is the chosen one for any summer sunset… especially the sunset from Vinea.
Cottage Dvor — George Benson, The World Is a Ghetto
A stone cottage built around a courtyard in the village of Dol. Dvor means courtyard in Dalmatian, a place where gathering is the name of the game. George Benson, at nine and a half minutes, is exactly right for that.
Sunrise House — Peggy Gou, Starry Night
Sunrise House sits above the northern coast of Hvar in Brusje, with vistas across to Stari Grad and Brač. The name says everything about the best moment of the day here. Starry Night goes on as the last of it fades.
Lola Summer House — Celeste, Tonight Tonight
Lola sits in the heart of Hvar Town, steps from the Venetian streets and the waterfront, and yet entirely its own world once the gate closes. Celeste's Tonight Tonight is the song for when everything feels exactly right.
Villa Lyra — Cannons, Carousel
Our second Cannons song, because when a band makes music this good, two tracks is hardly enough. Villa Lyra sits directly above the Adriatic in Ivan Dolac with floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors that open the entire ground floor to the sea. The sea is your pool here and Carousel is made for beach days that take an unexpected turn for the best.
Villa Ceto — RAYE, Who Knows Where The Time Goes (Montreux Jazz Festival 2026)
Villa Ceto sits on the edge of Stari Grad. The beach is 250 metres away. RAYE covering Sandy Denny at Montreux, live, in 2026, feels like time collapsing in the best possible way.
Villa Atropos — Bruno Martino, Estate
Estate means summer in Italian, and Bruno Martino wrote it as a lament for summer ending. Every year we include something that acknowledges the summer will be over soon, because that is what makes it matter while it is here.
The rest of the list
Every other track is waiting for you on the full playlist. In no particular order, and each one worth your time:
Listen to the full Villas Hvar 2026 playlist on YouTube
Chase — Keep Me Warm / Sekou — Catching Bodies / Fred again.. & JOY (Anonymous), peace u need / Olivia Dean — Dive / George Benson — The World is a Ghetto / Olivia Dean — Wish I Didn't Miss You / Peggy Ghou — Starry Night / The Love Unlimited Orchestra — Midnight And You / BuzzEar — Feel You Closer / Ezra Collective feat. Olivia Dean — No One's Watching Me / Celeste — Tonight, Tonight / Jill Scott — Don't Play / Cannons — Hurricane / Ghia — What's Your Voodoo / Maeta — Cool Cat / Sinéad Harnett — Body / Whitney Houston — How Will I Know (Oliver Nelson Remix) / marisol — Gazimo / Say She She — Fortune Teller / Rhye — Close Your Mouth / Lucy Dacus — In The Air Tonight / Charlie Jeer — My Madonna / Warhaus — Leave With Me / Harry Styles — Everybody Wants To Rule The World / Sia feat. Labrinth — Incredible / ROSALÍA — La Perla / Luca C & Brigante — Lucio / Jessie Ware — Alone / Common Saints — Idol Eyes / LUWTEN — Sleeveless / / The Womack Sisters - If I Let You / Orgōne — Be Thankful For What You Got / MEUTE — You & Me / Hannes — Friends / Charlie Jeer — Nobody / Hinotoriprojekt — La Dolce Riviera / DON WEST — In Your Eyes / Kygo & Whitney Houston — Higher Love / James Blake — Trying Times / Jungle — Someday Somewhere / RAYE — Who Knows Where The Time Goes (Montreux Jazz Festival 2026) / Leon Bridges — Your Love Is Electric / / Meshell Ndegeocello, Cynthia Erivo - I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) / Durand Jones & The Indications — Really Wanna Be With You / Herb Alpert - Rise / Billy Idol — Eyes Without A Face / Cannons — Carousel / Bruno Martino — Estate / HUGEL — Movin' To The Sun / Gabi Novak — Pusti Me Da Spavam
PS: That last one is by Gabi Novak, a Croatian jazz legend singing a song whose title translates roughly as Let me sleep. Because some things in life are non-negotiable — just like sleep is in summer.
