Sounds of summer

For a few weeks already, I’ve been woken by the rising sun. As I’ve watched and smelled the sand and grass being revealed from under the snow, I’ve had at least one clear theme song for spring, Yona’s “Kevätfiilis”. It has the best spring lyrics I know and a real feel of spring, just like the name suggests. I’ve also dug out some albums that always seem to appear on my playlist in spring and summer. The two most important of these are Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not by Arctic Monkeys and Kaksi Mannerta by Emma Salokoski Ensemble.

In addition to the general sunshine records, every summer gets its own soundtrack. What I mean are those songs and albums that you sing along with your friends in the park, jam along to while walking on the street, and the ones which bring you back to the best moments of that summer still years after. My last summer’s soundtrack based strongly on Fantasies by Metric, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix, Manners by Passion Pit, the self-titled debut of The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart.

Naturally, I need to speculate next summer a bit. During the fall, winter and spring there has been a bunch of new releases that have been waiting for the summer to give them the right listening environment. These include Summertime EP by The Drums, Surfer Blood’s Astro Coast, Gorilla Manor by Local Natives and the self-titled new albums of Fang Island and Yukon Blonde. New Vampire Weekend and Delorean albums will probably be playing in my speakers as well. There are also several highly anticipated new releases coming during the following months. The Drums are releasing their first full-length album and Wolf Parade, Ratatat and LCD Soundsystem will all be releasing new albums. Even more important will most certainly be the new albums by The National and Band of Horses. They don’t have the most summer-suiting sound but you need something for the long nights and rainy days, too, especially if you happen to live in Finland.

The best thing about this kind of speculations is the fact that they’re seldom right. It’s great to have something to expect but even better to find surprises, new artists and songs which unexpectedly happen to be playing over and over on the stereo, mp3 player or someone’s guitar while you sink your feet in the soft sand and watch the waves break on the shore.