Most of the West Coast has been suffering through a brutal heat wave recently. Death Valley almost set the all-time world record when it rose above 1320 earlier in the week. Where I live, it wasn’t nearly as bad, though it did peek into triple digits for a couple of days. Even indoors, the effects were noticeable. Pipes in the ceiling of the radio station office I work at were dripping condensation on the arm of my chair and my desk, and by the time I was on the air doing a live show, the studio temperature was nearly 90°.

Thank goodness that Joanne Robertson came along, then. The singer-songwriter, who was featured on Dean Blunt’s most recent album The Redeemer, dropped a new single just in time for the unbearable summer weather, aptly titled “HEAT.”

It’s a simple and wistful tune, recorded flatly into her laptop’s microphone. With a light touch of reverb, each string plucked and every high note hit feels like heat waves radiating off scorched pavement. When your clothes are already soaked through with sweat and you’re sunburnt beyond recognition, who has energy to do anything but sway to a song like this?