Super review by Cal Gibson, of The Secret Soul Society.

Summer’s almost in view once more, when time slows to a stumble, daydreams whirl amidst the sunbeams and the world seems bearable again: life and laughter centre stage, cares slipped off in the night, love rightfully restored to the throne. All of which perfectly sums up the vibes of Luke Fugar‘s Australian hymn to the sun as his Perth Lewis project comes up smiling with a lovely little cassette release on Dream Chimney. 

This is music for midday madness and early evening pleasures: sluggish and slurped, slow and low, drifting pads, guitar-led motifs, a haze of regrets and love-lorn could have beens, should have beens and may yet still be’s. It’s a heady brew, a patched-up pot-pourri of lives lived in the sunshine as on the keening Dam Jam: echoes of Durutti Column, if relocated from Manchester to Sydney. Chiming six string riffs gently placed centre stage. Clicky bass licks, background melodica. The end result being an elemental magic, a re-imagining of times past. The simplicity making it all hang together vividly.

Subtle Connection foregrounds Luke’s guitar skills again, all wide open spaces and desert blues in the vein of Ry Cooder given a Balearic makeover. Keys backing up the guitar lines, a suffusing warmth throughout: not a million miles away from fellow Dream Chimney alumnus Dan Judd aka Sorcerer in feel – and recommendations don’t come much higher than that.

It’s all subtle, in fact, exhibiting a less is more aesthetic that suits the summer ethos perfectly. In The Moment nods toward Buddhist mantras and deep noticing of this beautiful planet we (briefly) inhabit. We’re not here long, people: make the most of it. Again it’s all about the guitar and keys interplay, underpinned by some hand percussion and the air of a long lost dream. It works for this bedraggled listener, for sure.

There’s a healing invoked throughout, a feeling that despite all the fuckery there is a truth and a beauty to our lives, if only we can strip away the shit to get to it. Lotus Leaf continues in the same vein, slippy swathes of synth washes sliding around, warm guitar chords, a gentle longing for a better existence.

It’s a great collection of warm-hearted sun-loving tunes: respect to Luke and Dream Chimney for a beautifully-judged offering for those of you who like to sit and ponder, and wonder, and dream of all that life sometimes has to offer. It’s an amazing world, and music like this soundtracks it perfectly. Everything shall indeed pass: but Jetty Summer shall remain.

Perth Lewis’ Jetty Summer can be ordered directly from Dream Chimney.