Summer Camp - Young

Summer Camp are singer-songwriter Jeremy Warmsley and Elizabeth Sankey, one of the editors of Platform Magazine. They’re not - as was previously reported widely - a bunch of seven Swedish friends who met at summer camp. And now that any distracting questions about the duo’s identity have been resolved, perhaps their self-assured, six-track debut EP can garner the attention it deserves.

This is a hazy, languid record full of depth and promise. Upbeat, poppy track ‘Ghost Train’ is the most accessible song on the EP - and unsurprisingly, it’s the one Summer Camp chose to release as a single earlier this year. With a catchy, bouncy chorus, it’s sprinkled with delicious melodies and marked by bright, sparkly synth chords and tambourines.

‘Ghost Train’ aside, there’s a total lack of urgency to this record. But don’t confuse that with a lack of purpose. Summer Camp know exactly how they want to sound, and there’s ambition aplenty here. Sure, the start of Autumn seems a less-than-ideal time to release a record with such a long-days-on-the-beach vibe, but they’ve still pulled it off. The relaxed style can transport you away from a rainy October afternoon in moments.

Opener ‘Round the Moon’ is evocative of Bowie in places, blending a staccato drum machine undercurrent with with sci-fi tones which build nicely. And while some of the soft, female-sung lyrics may not win prizes for originality (‘We danced all night / And we held each other tight / Till the morning night’), there’s a pleasing complexity to the wavy, psychedelic, synthy sound that invites further exploration.

Other tracks betray the duo’s wide range of influences and impressive versatility. The scratchy, off-key introduction to ‘Jake Ryan’ hints at potential for a more guitar-based sound beneath the electronica that dominates ‘Young’.

Indeed, there’s a noticeable lack of big hooks. Instead, ‘Young’ worms its way into your affections by subtler means. For instance, the ba-ba-ba lyrics of ‘Why Don’t You Stay’ will get you foot-tapping without realising, as the distinctive bassline rumbles its way through the background.

‘I got so much more than this’ sings Sankey on ‘Veronica Sawyer’. And on the basis of this track, which starts off a bit Joy Division-esque but soon morphs into a multi-faceted, reverberating mix of twangy guitars, echoing vocals and tambourines, it’ll be worth waiting to see what this duo do next.