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Photo by T Barkl/Future Classic
More than just a season of ice cream, BBQ, and beaches, summer is a time for breaking free and putting the past behind us. School’s out, vacations are booked, and we can finally emerge from our winter hibernation having shed our layers of clothes as well as the darkness of that long, cold season. There’s an optimism in the air that only comes during the months from late June through September.
This summer spirit is captured in the new EP from Panama, the Sydney synthpop act masterminded by songwriter/producer Jarrah McCleary. Titled Hope for Something, its five tracks deal with heartache, personal demons, and death, but with a distinct reassurance that, in time, things will always get better if we just open ourselves up to acceptance and the idea of letting go. The EP’s warm, soothing arrangements — think of a low-key, island disco party at sunset — only enhance McCleary’s therapeutic touch.
There’s the sweeping title track, which kindly advocates patience over haste in lines like, “Know something good takes time anyway.” Meanwhile, the second cut, “I Watched You Slip” is a funk-lined number about doing right by a loved one. On “The Highs”, McCleary sounds like James Blake turned Jamie xx, as somber piano eventually gives way to a tropical breeze.
McClearly offered up a statement on the EP to Consequence of Sound:
“The lyrics are real and the emotion can be thick, to the point where I struggled with some of the songs because of how naked they are to me. The positive tone of the EP seems to be the counter weight of the darker things I was experiencing when writing this project. I always draw upon personal experiences when I’m writing. It’s that fine line between truth and poetry. For the production this time around I was able to work with Classixx and also Filip [Nikolic, of Poolside], who were great to bounce ideas off in the studio.”
Hope for Something, the follow-up to 2013’s Always EP, officially arrives on June 24th via Future Classic (Flume, Nick Murphy) and 300 Entertainment, but CoS is premiering it in full below. Take a listen.
Hope for Something EP Artwork:
Hope for Something Tracklist:
01. Hope for Something
02. I Watched You Slip
03. The Highs
04. Undertow
05. Your Love (Lift Us Up)
