Fernando Augusto Pacheco

Culture June 26, 2026 6 Min Read From an instant classic by the queen of pop to a sunny anthem by Portuguese Eurovision stars, here are the tracks to cue up when heading to the beach or hosting a garden party. Writer Fernando Augusto Pacheco, Monocle’s senior correspondent, has many guises. As the host of The Stack, he is a connoisseur of print; but he is also the curator of the musical segments on Monocle Radio’s airwaves. Pacheco is our resident DJ of the summer season too.

Dressed in a black catsuit, Belgian pop star Angèle emerges from a smoky haze of red and blue to the sound of pounding beats. It’s the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics and the audience is cheering. She is on stage to perform French electro act Kavinsky’s “Nightcall”, along with indie band Phoenix. It’s a crowning moment in her career. Though the ceremony marked Angèle’s entry into the international pop pantheon, the Brussels-based musician was already a superstar in the Francophone world.

There is a ritual that I have repeated every four years since 1998: collecting Panini Fifa World Cup stickers. It’s a curious hobby; though I’m not a football fanatic, I am an enthusiast for printed products and so there is something appealing to me about the Italian company’s iconic and enduring sticker collection. The album is not just a book, it’s a shared social experience.