Album Review: The Dangerous Summer – Mother Nature

Mother Superior

I have a deep sympathy for bands that are working tirelessly to bring you good music and who tour constantly to keep the allure of live music alive, and then some nutjob thinks it’s okay to steal their equipment. Our friends in The Dangerous Summer have been plagued by this very cruel and callous act, yet here they are back in your face to stick it to the retards who thought they would be broken by such criminality.

A voice message begins this journey, portentous, maybe but then its good to stick your head into the mouth of a lion, eh?

A life affirming agenda is the order of the day here, as we recount all our past errors and grievances and hope to forge a path forward through the quagmire.

This album brings sunshine to our shores, and everything feels better instantly.

A tale that is familiar to many I’m afraid in ‘Way Down’ with the lyrics

‘everything I own is in a suitcase’

And ‘when I fall, I wanna fall way down’ benefitting from vocals that ooze tragedy, we listen to tales of emptiness and loneliness as we  all try and find our place in this world. It is unforgiving; an embitterment that is channelled through the forces of mother nature, on one hand a nurturing, comforting port and on the other a merciless beast that will devour you in one fell swoop.

With ‘Virginia’ we throw ourselves into Finch( I want you to know that I miss you, I miss you so… Oh I can’t cope…seriously) and just superb Inme vibes. The beat change in ‘Starting Over/Slow Down’ at 2.51 has me grinning stupidly as the lyric tells us

‘run away, I wanna run away’

Hands up how many of you have had that feeling? Unfortunately, life tends to make us feel like that, as we desperately look for an escape.

My favourite is next in ‘Where Were You When The Sky Opened Up?’ as we hop, skip and jump across this beautifully crafted body of work, well worth the hiatus of sorts to see these guys back on top.

It’s a ‘Consequence Of Living’ my friends that the inevitable and eventual death will come looking for us all.

‘cause our brains all fall apart sometimes and that pain will do you in’

A finely tuned set of songs here, uncomplicated, simple melodies, soul crushing lyrics, performed flawlessly.

I had a heart my friends, but I lost it this dangerous summer.