The kings of reverb are back with their newest album release, Reside, which dropped on November 7th. This is their eighth full-length album if you count their remastering of their debut EP, Driving to Hawaii. Being a long-time Summer Salt fan, I had been waiting for this album’s release when it was first announced earlier this year.
Reside is full of odes to their signature, distinct sound of heavily reverbed electric guitars, thumpy bass tones, 1-6-2-5 progressions, and falsetto vocals. Yet, it points us in a new direction. They have expanded their instrumentation with string sections, wind instruments, and pianos, lightly peppering these textures throughout the album (Tell Me is the best example of this). This shift in sound tells listeners that Summer Salt is interested in taking their talents to a whole new level. Still, I feel like they are holding back a bit, relying perhaps too much on what they already know and are comfortable with. I know they have the talent to fully step into something new – I can hear it.
A strong suit of Summer Salt is their storytelling abilities with their lyrics. Reside is a reflective album, with several tracks revolving around bitter heartache and working through that pain (Better and Changed). Though we see the light at the end of that tunnel with tracks like Incredible and Smile (괜찮을 거야). I think if you’re someone who enjoys digesting lyrics more than harmony, you’ll like this album even more than I do.
I had a lot of fun with this album. Summer Salt has yet to let me down with a release of theirs, and I am curious if they will talk about some behind-the-scenes of the album and their inspirations for how it came to fruition.
Best track: Tell Me
Rating: 8.1/10