Summer 08

Turning moments into music is the next best thing, and something that Mount excelled at in the years after Nights Out as he became a more eclectic, emotive artist. Summer 08's exuberance and sophistication are a testament to those skills, as well as to music's power to define and evoke a period in time--and one of Metronomy's most enjoyable albums yet.

He knows how to fill a dance floor. But his music comes with the sharp awareness of how it feels to stand, alienated and feigning aloofness, on the sidelines.

Summer Jam is as aimless as the name suggests--but overall this is almost a match for 2011’s wonderful English Riviera.

Even at its moodiest, this is a deliriously inventive and often whimsical dance record.

Nodding strongly towards everything from Hall & Oates, to Justice, and Patrice Rushen, and flaunting all of Mount’s influences without a hint of irony, Summer ‘08’ is from start to finish, a back to basics, pure-pop odyssey.

Summer 08 may not have been designed to build on the success of Love Letters and The English Riviera, but it still very well may; it's every bit as resourceful, offbeat and pleasing as anything Mount has done to date.

Downsides? There really aren’t any. Mount has done it again. He could write music about the impact of Brexit on the UK’s trade with China and make it sound amazing.

Although a few tracks lack bite, Mount keeps the senses stimulated with diversity and detail. [Aug 2016, p.78]

Lyrics are as simple and as witty as ever, focusing around sexual desire, jealousy and life in the pre-hipster East End in 2008.

This is Metronomy's first album since their debut recorded solely by Mount. It might also be their best.

Mount remains an exceptional musical craftsman, who continues to shift and change and toy with his formula, which is proven to result in fun listens like Summer 08.

While it might lack the chaotic charm of Nights Out, or the lush, well-rounded sound of The English Riviera, it makes up for that by simply being fun.

In anyone else’s hands, Summer 08 might seem strange and cold. But from Mount, as ornery as it is, it feels like a gesture of trust.

Summer 08 is good work from Mount, and an album with its fair share of corking tracks.

The instrumental Summer Jam also seems a bit throwaway, and being the closing track also ensures that the album ends on a bit of a damp squib rather than a flourish. Overall though, there is more than enough on Summer 08 to reconfirm Metronomy’s position as one of this country’s wittiest, most original and purely enjoyable pop acts.

Summer 08 is the banger-filled record Mount has always wanted to make, for fun, and we’re very much glad that he did.

So the album remains a solo project, despite the welcome input from Robyn on Hang Me Out To Dry. The duet hints at how human Metronomy can sound when more life is squirted onto their palette.

The 808-rattling Old Skool is playful stuff, but the best moments seem more wistfully personal.

Ultimately, with its emphasis on synths and beats over the sterling melodies of Love Letters, Summer 08 ends up coming over like a stopgap offering--or a Joe Mount solo record--rather than the next Metronomy album proper. However, those who miss the slightly demented groves of the pre-fame Metronomy are advised to dive in. [Aug 2016, p.112]

It’s a weird one, mysterious and mildly menacing, but eerily engaging nonetheless.

This album isn't shy, but the jittery electro-pomp and lyrical cleverness can feel off-puttingly arch. [Aug 2016, p.90]