Article by: Melanie Allen
Bassist Nikolai Fraiture of The Strokes has recently created his own project, Summer Moon, which is comprised of himself, Camila Grey of Uh Huh Her, Stephen Perkins of Jane’s Addiction, and Noah Harmon of The Airborne Toxic Event. Their single, “With You Tonight,” homonymous with the album, was released in September of 2016 to give us a teaser for what’s to come this February. Fraiture has stated that these were songs he had written on his own, but found more enjoyable to play with his peers. It only seems fit that members of all very talented acts should come together to create something magical, e.g. With You Tonight.
As far as the album itself, it’s an even ten songs long (a bit over half an hour) but it’s hard not to lose track of time while listening. The tracks seem especially fit for listening to while driving, getting ready for the day, cooking, or any other essentially passive activities. The guitar and keyboard sounds are relaxing and pretty groovy, but the drums keep each song going and will keep listeners engaged. A few songs in particular, such as “Girls On Bikes,” and “Into The Sun,” seem straight out of the 80s but with just a smidge of contemporary flair, and compliment other tracks with more upbeat tempos, including “Cleopatra.” Each of the Strokes have some kind of side project(s) going on, none of which should go unnoticed, particularly this unique and skillfully contrived album from Summer Moon. The official unveiling of the album will be February 24, 2017.