Metronomy - Summer 08

Being dad to two young children whilst writing and recording an entire pop record must be no easy feat, yet electro connoisseur Joe Mount has done just that. On Summer 08, the Metronomy mastermind tackles the same themes of love and coming-of-age he always has, but with a fresh energy, a blissful funkability manifested in ten groovy, bass-led numbers. If the punchy drumming on Back Together sets the tone as playful, then Miami Logic runs with it to the hills, mixing wobbles of bass into equally wavering vocals before dissolving into the instantly classic Old Skool. A guest appearance from Robyn injects a gutsy streak into the dreamy duet Hang Me Out to Dry and the woozy Mick Slow sprinkles glistening synths over guitars that point as much to motown as they do Daft Punk, like a hangover headache you can’t quite shake. Night Owl is this record’s ‘The Look’, 4-minutes-30 of sublime indie rumbles and buzzes with beautifully bittersweet lyrics as the cherry on top. A lazy fade-out tarnishes its slick deliciousness, but it’s a banger all the same. Summer Jam wraps up the record in a bitesize chunk of the effortlessly cool aesthetic it’s so steeply seeped in. Sound of the summer? Incontestably.