Gulp – Season Sun

The woozy clip-clop of opener Game Love sets the dreamy tone for this, the debut by The Super Furries’ Guto Pryce and his partner Lindsey Leven. Coloured by skittering percussion, trim guitar, Leven’s austere vocals and a dusting of Farfisa parp, Season Sun is grounded in a carefree 60s psychedelia. Its home-grown origins are evidenced by sparse arrangements and a sharply executed lo-fi production.

Written and recorded over the last couple of years in a multitude of places, including their home, various studios and a local community centre classroom, it’s an album with aspirations beyond those thrift shop origins. For the most part, it’s all rather lovely, and a reedy, top-end soundboard does little to diminish its warmth. It doesn’t engage at depth, particularly, but that’s perhaps not the intention. It’s a pointedly stylised piece and, on its own limited terms, a risk-free addition to your summer soundtrack.