Hello! After an unfortunate hiatus, I have returned to continue writing about musicy stuff. Sorry about the gap – I'm in the middle of my summer holidays, which means that time passes at three thousand times the regular speed and all spare time gets instantly filled. So, in tribute to the summerness of summer holidays, I thought I'd work out what makes a great summer song.
First of all, it has to capture some sort of feeling about the heat. There is the morning sunrisey bit, when everything is calm, slightly cool, clear and simple. You'd probably want a lot of treble sounds, maybe some xylophone or something. Bright, happy sounds but not particularly energetic. Great example: Glosoli and Hoppipolla by Sigur Ros (they sound like a sunrise). If you live in Australia, or anywhere that gets really hot, then you would understand that in the afternoon of a really hot day, everyone starts getting sweaty and the air is heavy. This is the best time to be in the crowd at a music festival – and the perfect music captures the thick feeling. Songs for this time have to sound a little sweaty and half-naked (someone I knew once described them as 'primal'), and they have to have some sort of wall of sound thing going on – but not too much bass. Once you start adding massive bass lines, you end up with winter material. The subject matter can't be too dark either – we're in bright sunshine, not rain and clouds. Songs to listen to: Minerva by the Deftones and One Great Summer by Amplifier (most things by Amplifier fit the bill). Finally the evening, when it's still rather hot, but now everyone is way to tired to do anything about it. You need calm songs, with a few notes and lots of space between them, or man and his guitar and cello. Break for Me by Art of Fighting, or Sirens by My Friend the Chocolate cake, or any Damien Rice or some smooth jazz (like Cassandra Wilson)– all these are songs to fall asleep to.
Second, as mentioned a little above, a summer song cannot be depressing or angry. The surfie songs of the 60's got it right when they talked about sitting on the beach and having an awesome time. The winter blues is a documented medical condition, but sunlight makes you happy. While I'm not a big fan of traditional summer music (the heat in Melbourne is usually a little too strong to match), a good summer song has to celebrate something not despair – excepting the evening stuff, when it's all about the sound rather than the lyrics.
Thirdly, a great summer song has to make you feel good. Whether its a powerful feeling from intense sound, or incredibly peaceful, or joyous from the sheer beauty of the music, summer music has to prop you up, not bring you down. It's the holidays! Go, celebrate, sit on the beach or go for a walk, or have a great big party (funk music makes great summer party music)!
