Summer Heart

It’s not so often that a band’s name truly reflects their sound, but when it comes to Swedish lo-fi solo artist Summer Heart (David Alexander), you can expect just that; hazy, sun-bleached tracks that are the perfect anthem to remembering hot July nights filled with skinny dipping and sleeping in. With multi-instrumentalist Alexander both fronting and making beats (through vocals, guitar, synths, bass, computers, and drum machines) as Summer Heart, you might be surprised by the project’s sound: a complete amalgamation of rhythms, tones, and melodies--inspired by The Raveonettes and Blonde Redhead--that feel like they’re coming from a full band. Influenced by more than just music (think photography, literature, people, traveling, style, nature, and urbanism), floating on soundwaves from the Summer Heart EP, coming this spring, will feel a lot like the soundtrack to a home video from a roadtrip with friends—a memory you may have rekindled while shopping for vintage-inspired bathing suits at H&M a few summers ago, where the project was featured on the brand’s in-store playlists in 2011. While you might get the lo-fi chillwave vibe, (akin to bands like Washed Out, Teen Daze, and Toro y Moi) in singles like “Sleep” and “U Got All I’m Looking For,” the sound of Summer Heart (who has before supported bands like Yelle and Niki and the Dove) is familiar, yet all its own. It’ll take you back to that time you re-found a box of Polaroids under your bed from that one Fourth of July, where you ran around barefoot with sparklers and drove with the windows down. But even on a cold winter’s day, listening to Summer Heart’s blend of hopeful and dreamy tracks with the windows up might just inspire you to draw some ocean waves on a completely fogged-up car window.

Look for Summer Heart (which tours as a two-piece live outfit) in 2015, where they’re super excited to be playing as a SXSW official band.