Tag: Black Summer

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Black Summer’s Subtle Yet Moody Remix of Australian-born Viral Sensation Xavier Dunn

Xavier Dunn is an up-and-coming, Sydney, Australia-born and-based singer/songwriter, producer and electronic artist, who first came to international prominence with a series of acoustic covers that included 3 Hype Machine #1s, a Spotify Global Viral Charts #2, a Spotify US Viral Charts #1, a Spotify Australia Viral Chart #1 and over 22 million Spotify streams to date. Last month, Dunn released the critically applauded “Isic Tutor,” an ethereal bit of neo soul that features Dunn’s tender and aching falsetto paired with a ambient production consisting of thumping, tweeter and woofer rocking beats and gently swirling synths and electronics within a song that immediately brought to mind Beacon’s For Now EP and The Ways We Separate — but centered around the ebbs and flows of a rather tumultuous relationship and in part the strange wisdom of Isic, an AI character from the video game Battleborn.

Recently, one of Australia’s most exciting up-and-coming producers — and perhaps one of their youngest to reach national attention, Black Summer, a 14 year old EDM producer, who was first discovered by Triple J when he was 11, remixed Dunn’s ambient “Isic Tutor,” and while retaining the aching and tender falsetto vocals of the original and some of the ethereal and ambient electronics of the original, adds skittering drum programming and a live drum sample, which manages to gently speed up the tempo while remaining unhurried and moody. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Playful and Summery Visuals for Umm’s “Black Summer”

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site throughout the course of the summer, you’ve likely come across a couple of posts featuring the  Los Angeles, CA-based indie rock duo Umm. Comprised of Stefanie Drootin, best known for stints in The Good Life, Big Harp and in the backing bands of She & Him and Bright Eyes, and her Big Harp bandmate and husband Chris Senseney, the duo specialize in a 90s alt rock-inspired sound, full of fuzzy power chords, propulsive and forceful drumming paired with swoon-worthy boy-girl harmonizing and anthemic hooks; in fact, as a child of the 80s, who started to come of age in the 90s, “I’m in Love,” off the duo’s recently released full-length debut Double Worshipper instantly reminded me of the countless hours I spent watching 120 Minutes, of scanning the radio stations to make mixtapes of my favorite songs of the moment and of borrowing friends’ tapes and CDs and dubbing them on a Sony boombox stereo I had owned. 

Double Worshipper’s second single “Black Summer” continues along a similar vein as its predecessor, as it clearly 90s alt rock-inspired. And although the song manages to possess  some rather dark lyricism, there’s a breezy and old timey pop accessibility that bolsters both the song’s anthemic quality, as well as its mischievous irony; after all, the song is about rejecting the idea of some kind of stable, acceptable adulthood — and pretty much saying “Fuck it, it’s all bullshit. Just exist, man.” 

Directed by Mike Stillkey and shot with what looks like grainy Super 8 film, the video features the duo goofing off on a glorious Southern California day at the beach and in the desert, playing together and naturally a horse’s head mask, because — well, why not?