The Acolyte enters the song of the summer race with the help of Victoria Monét

One could argue that it’s too late to vie for the song of the summer. We might not know yet what will come to define “Summer 2024” in our minds, but the entries are in, the streams are being tallied. Maybe it’s the way you have been worrying about whether it’s that you espresso, or always starting to dance a little when you hear “Not Like Us” (and running it back five times), rockin’ out on your way to the bar, or the way you’ve been hitting that high note as you wish people “Good Luck, Babe!”

But that was before The Acolyte aired episode 7, ending with a very sudden cut to credits, and song by one Victoria Monét.

Until now, The Acolyte’s main claim to fame has been bringing the High Republic to live action and Manny Jacinto enticing people to the Dark Side. Now, the new Star Wars show is taking on the pop charts, leaning on a Grammy-winner Monét to tie together the stories of Mae and Osha in a post-credit song.

“Power of Two” is a much better bop than episode 3’s coven chant, the sort of old-school pop interpretation of a plot that we used to get on Disney movies, or (even better??) their straight-to-VHS sequels. This is not just a Hercules-era self-serious cover by a pop singer; this is pure 98 Degrees “True to Your Heart” goodness. It clearly wants to drive home the themes about Mae and Osha’s division across the opposing sides of the Force, all over a brooding beat and some layered vocaling.

Will this supersede any of the other entries in the race for song of the summer? I would guess: probably not. Sorry to Monét — those other ones are just utter earworms; it’s honestly crazy we have a collection this good right now. (And to be fair: It’s not even about to supplant Monét’s own “On My Mama” on my summer playlists.) But hey, it’s nice to have a show with a bit of throwback fun to it.