I have to admit, “The Summer Talking” caught me a little by surprise. At first, it feels like one of those songs you could easily imagine playing during a summer evening, with its catchy rhythm, dreamy atmosphere and almost carefree mood. But the more you listen, the more you realize that The Noise Who Runs are hiding something much darker underneath. The song has this strange ability to sound beautiful and uncomfortable at the same time. The electronic elements, the guitars and the laid-back vocals create a warm, almost nostalgic atmosphere, while the lyrics slowly destroy that feeling. The repeated “It’s just the summer talking” line gets stuck in your head, but there is nothing particularly happy about what it is saying. What I really like here is that The Noise Who Runs don’t try to make their message too obvious. The song talks about the way we escape reality, convincing ourselves that everything will be better somewhere else, or simply later. And, of course, summer is the perfect metaphor for that temporary feeling of freedom. The video makes the contrast even stronger, presenting the beauty of summer alongside the uncomfortable reality of the climate crisis. Personally, I think this is where the song becomes much more interesting than a simple alternative/electronic pop/rock track. “The Summer Talking” is catchy, atmospheric and surprisingly melancholic. It sounds like a summer song, but there is a big storm coming behind it. And that’s exactly what makes it worth listening to.
♦ 8/10
Dimitris Zacharopoulos
