In Hear This, The A.V. Club writers sing the praises of songs they know well. This week, since we’re getting into the summer groove, we’re picking what we’d like to be this year’s song of the summer.
Few Bits, “Summer Sun” (2016)
Summer is the season for lollygagging. It’s always either too hot to move or too nice to rush off to obligations for fear of missing out on that duet of warm sun and crisp breeze. Summer’s when one dillydallies, in contrast to winter, when every trip is the shortest route between two points. Can you tell I live in Chicago?
Few Bits’ “Summer Sun” has all the makings of a song of the summer (if not the song of the summer). This is a song that begs to assist in whiling away the time. Kicking off with syncopated drums and Real Estate-style guitar arpeggios, the lead single from Belgium’s Karolien Van Ransbeeck layers melancholic lyrics atop a dream-pop blanket of effervescent, reverb-laden guitars. When Van Ransbeeck begins with, “Summer sun is shining through / And I’m no longer waiting on you” the insinuation is, “Listen, it’s been real, but there’s this great, big warm thing in the sky, and I want its radiation to kiss me on my face.” When the chorus (“I wanna go anywhere / I dream away”) and Kurt Vile-esque bridge arrive, it’s difficult not to imagine a lazy beach sunset or night spent wandering past al fresco diners. Oh, and most importantly, “summer” is in the title.