ALBUM REVIEW: Summer Flake 'You Can Have It All'

Stephanie Crase – the Adelaide gal behind indie-pop outfit, SUMMER FLAKE has just released her debut album as the latest signee to Aussie indie label, Rice Is Nice.

‘YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL’ is a sonic representation of sundrenched locales and cloudless blue skies. Sleepy Sundays reflected by crunchy guitars and slouched tempos, all held together by the sweet harmonies of Crase’s vocals.

Environments stay fairly grounded from beginning to end with ‘YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL’, but in a way that gives this album a focused sense of perpetual motion.  The real standout attractions here beside Crase’s voice is her impressive explorations through her electric guitar. The tones bleed with a hypnotic and tense emotion, whether it be by squeezing each hard-strummed chord through a whammy bar or through building deep and colourful walls of noise.

The majority of tracks are raw and rough, a presence of uncut realness. Listening through, I felt as if some tracks were completed in one take, letting the fields of fuzzy guitar feedback and depths of reverb exist entirely in their own moment. It feels like a breath of fresh air with something that is seldom found nowadays in studio recordings.

However, like any other album, ‘YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL’ is not without its faults. The majority of tracks on the album hang around the 4-6 minute mark, and whilst structurally these compositions work well, more often than not there were a few occasions throughout my initial listening where I felt as though songs could’ve been wrapped up sooner. SUMMER FLAKE succeeds greatly at expressing her ideas and feelings throughout the album - however, some of the lengthier durations tend to result in the emotion of her songs feeling somewhat exhausted.

Coming in at 10 tracks, ‘YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL’ provides a journey through which the unique personality of SUMMER FLAKE stands out – whether it be through her dreamy vocal melodies or the crackling accents of her guitar.

Favourite tracks: Blue, Dressed In Black, Forever Here And Now

Words by Nick Luke

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INTERVIEW: JULIA WILSON, RICE IS NICE RECORDS