Every summer has its song; a tune or an album that doodles the outline of my feelings the best. This year that soundtrack came to me in the form of Stockholm’s Magic Potion. Melt, their debut EP, was released through London’s Beech Coma (and via PNKSLM in Sweden) and has been on my playlist ever since.
As a whole, Melt captured the summer’s vibe perfectly. Its dreamy beach sounds had me bobbing my head incessantly as I enjoyed days of (mostly non-alcoholic) drinks with friends, sunbathing at a local lake, and generally sweating in the muggy weather.
There’s a laziness in Gustaf Montelius’ voice which somehow embodied my own unwillingness to do anything. Riffy guitars in every song, catchy choruses, lyrics you want to sing along to; I found myself humming along to ‘Booored’ all of the time. The truth is that I WAS bored during those sunny days, where the only thing to do was to go swimming, or stay at home and let the steam evaporate. I hate summers in Slovakia, especially the hot ones, as there is no sea, no ocean nearby to cool off. These songs made this reality a whole lot more bearable.
Listening to Melt, I visualized a beach, a bar with a small stage maybe, where good looking boys play in summer outfits as a crowd sways to the slow, lazy rhythms of Magic Potion. This EP is wonderfully suited for a summer party around the pool. I experienced no such gathering this summer, but these songs helped me forget that I live in a city where the heat can be terrible.
I was lucky enough to grab a copy of it on cassette from Beech Coma, a fairly new, very cool UK label from which I’ll be expecting great things moving forward.