The world around us changes with the seasons, and though we may think ourselves above it, we ourselves are changed along with it. Winter is a time for endings, and so naturally we are compelled to reflect on all that came before. As the animals hibernate from the cold we find warmth and comfort nestled up with friends and family. Spring is alive with new beginnings, and instils in us the compulsion to look forward and carve new paths. But it’s the summer heat that forges us into our strongest, boldest selves. It’s the period where we’re most likely to leave the life we know behind in search of adventure. It’s punctuated by dancing at festivals, cheering in sports stadiums, parties that make the most of the long days, memories made in sunsets that seem to last an age. Summer is for living. Sat here on the hottest day of the year thus far, listening to the new EP from Bristol band Ålesund as the last rays of sunshine illuminate the street, I can’t help but feel the band are burning every bit as bright as the summer sun. 

Restless Tides radiates the drive and self-confidence needed to be one’s best self and make the most of every fleeting moment. The relentless marching rhythm of ‘Thrive‘ provides the perfect framework for Alba Torriset’s soaring vocals, in a track that feels like a defiant call for a life lived to the fullest in an age of modern emptiness. ‘Devotion’ feels like the healing touch of someone that accepts your flaws, and in doing so allows you to accept them in turn; delivered here with delightfully bright vocal harmonies. The brooding tempest of ‘Never Enough‘, its drums crashing like the thunder of a distant summer storm, chases an addictive high with a desire that can never be sated. The fittingly named ‘Rode Off Into The Sun‘ brings the EP to a close, leaving old troubles behind in favour of a brighter tomorrow, with all the bombastic grandeur and triumphant brass of How Big, How Blue… era Florence. Much is said each year about the “song of the summer” – the track people are singing at festivals and listening to poolside on their holidays. Instilled in this EP is the sound of summer itself, the spirit of the very season, the part that burns in your veins and makes you feel alive.

Fans of Florence + The Machine, Aurora and The Last Dinner Party should check out Ålesund’s new EP Restless Tides out now.