5 essential female electronic/dance albums to listen to this summer

Clear your playlist and make way for the summer’s best electronic and dance albums by female artists.

From Spotify to Billboard, the dance and electronic charts are absolutely brimming with female names…as vocalists on male-produced tracks by the likes of Zedd and Marshmello.

Where are the headlining women and frontwomen?

They are making history at Coachella, done being just a collaborator, basically writing all of Apple’s commercials for them, and featured below as essential female electronic/dance albums to listen to this summer.

INDIO, CA – APRIL 16: Musician Sofi Tukker performs on the Gobi Tent during day 3 of the Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival (Weekend 1) at the Empire Polo Club on April 16, 2017 in Indio, California. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images for Coachella)

Sofi Tukker – Treehouse

Having a song featured in an Apple commercial can change a musician’s life in the span of a single commercial break. Delightful dance-pop duo Sofi Tukker (Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern) were already Grammy-nominated by the time Tim Cook and co. discovered “Best Friends” from their recently released album Treehouse.

But after being featured in an ad for the iPhone X, Hawley-Weld found herself one of the very, very few women on dance/electronic charts around the world that wasn’t a featured artist. This “gorgeous mess of a record” was so good, they even earned another rare distinction — being featured by Apple again for the debut of the special edition RED iPhone 8.

INDIO, CA – APRIL 20: Alison Wonderland performs onstage during the 2018 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Field on April 20, 2018 in Indio, California. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images for Coachella)

Alison Wonderland – Awake

You don’t become the highest billed female DJ in Coachella history for nothing. Alison Wonderland has been on working her way from her native Australia to the stage of the California festival for years now.

But the release of her sophomore album Awake has finally cemented her place in EDM, partly because it’s not entirely an electronic or dance album. She genre-hops from classical music to heartbroken pop before it all devolves into the kind of frenzied beats that make a crowd look more like a heartbeat of humans bouncing by a stage. 

INDIO, CA – APRIL 21: Marian Hill performs onstage during the 2018 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Field on April 21, 2018 in Indio, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Coachella)

Marian Hill – Unusual

Never has a lead single been more aptly title. “Subtle Things” is the first track from the Philadelphia duo’s upcoming May 11 release Unusual. Minimalist beats by production artist Jeremy Lloyd are driven by vocalist Samantha Gongol’s delicate R&B melodies sung in the subtlest tenor.

Although the album has yet to drop, they enjoy the approval of two taste makers — the packed crowd during their Coachella set and Apple’s marketing department, who used their song “Down” for the iPhone 7 + AirPods commercial.

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 11: Anne-Marie performs during Free Radio Live held at Genting Arena on November 11, 2017 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images)

Anne-Marie – Speak Your Mind

Proud owner of the fantastic vocals that helped make “Rockabye” by Clean Bandit featuring Sean Paul a hit, Ed Sheeran-backed singer-songwriter Anne-Marie has finally released her debut album Speak Your Mind. 

Sonically, it follows the template she laid down with Clean Bandit of so-called “tropical pop” over EDM-approved beats, as seen in her forcefully-friend zoning first single “FRIENDS” with Marshmello. She may not be breaking new ground in the genre, but it’s none the less an absolutely addictive album that will be rattling in your mind long after the summer is over.

INDIO, CA – APRIL 23: Musician Lauren Mayberry of Chvrches performs onstage during day 2 of the 2016 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival Weekend 2 at the Empire Polo Club on April 23, 2016 in Indio, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Coachella)

Chvrches – Love is Dead

Synthpop bands are debatably electronic, and often only incidentally danceable. Chvrches is no exception, and when lead singer Lauren Mayberry said their upcoming May 25th release Love is Dead was their “most pop yet,” she nearly kicked herself off the list. But when half of the Eurythmics contribute to your record and your lead single sounds more deliciously digitized than half this list, you have no choice but to readmit the Scottish band and their angelic frontwoman.

Next: Your guide to summer's best music festivals and concerts

FKA Twigs, Robyn and (maybe) Grimes are all rumored to be releasing new music this year.

The sooner, the better, because this list, the charts and your headphones are all feeling a little light on electric leading ladies.