Following the sublime ambient beauty of last year's Lake Deep Memory, Martin Jenkins, aka Pye Corner Audio, returned in June with the more upbeat More Songs About the Sun. Ride's Andy Bell adds his talents to proceedings, helping create a wonderfully woozy album that feels like a journey through '90s dance and shoegaze, with a sprinkling of '80s synth music thrown in.
Euphoria kicks things off like the arrival of summer, bringing to mind lazy afternoons spent relaxing in pub gardens. That feeling runs through much of the album. Cycle sounds like an Ian Brown track that somehow didn't make it onto Music of the Spheres, while its keyboard riff wouldn't have sounded out of place on Gary Numan's Telekon.
Eight Thousand Years dances out of the speakers and quickly becomes an earworm, while the album gradually shifts from bright and joyful towards something more subdued and melancholy. The Race Is Run is a perfect example, capturing that feeling that summer is slowly coming to an end.
The standout track for me is The Breath of Now, featuring the voice of Ian Rankin. It wouldn't sound out of place on an Underworld album, with Rankin's narration adding a sense of desolation to the warm electronic backdrop.
The melodies are warm and engaging, the songs never outstay their welcome and, as always with a PCA release, when it finishes you find yourself wishing there was just a little more.
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