If you had come across this site last month, you may have come across a post featuring the Southern California-based indie septet Private Island. Comprised of Christian Lum, Michelle Guerrero, Tommy Nickerson, Tim Barbour, Roger Mawer and Cameron Anderson the members of the Southern California-based initially developed a reputation for crafting shimmering and anthemic indie rock. In fact, the early single “Drugs” charted rather highly on Hype Machine, as it received more than 3 million Spotify streams; however, with “Turbulence,” the first single off the septet’s forthcoming full-length effort Night Drive found the band retaining the shimmering quality of their sound but while leaning heavily towards R&B and synth pop — and in a fashion reminiscent of St. Lucia, Washed Out and others but with a Quiet Storm-like vibe.
Night Drive‘s latest single “Juvenile” continues in a similar vein as its predecessor, as its slow-burning Quiet Storm meets 80s synth pop and synth funk but interestingly enough upon repeated listens reveals slick hyper modern and swaggering production as you’ll hear autotuned vocals paired with Lum’s sultry vocals, boom bap drums, shimmering synths paired with organic instrumentation and a soaring hook. And while being a two-step friendly bit of dance floor pop, the song also manages to be some of the band’s most ambitious songwriting to date, as the song possesses an arena rock sound.
