Summer Winter is a genre-bending music artist that prefers to craft music full of charm and allurement. Dabbling in many ways to express herself and her artistry, Summer Winter has come up with a way to appease her listeners while remaining true to her own eccentrics. With lush orchestrations of predominantly indie sound stemming from her productions, as well as a dynamic take on her abilities as a singer, Summer Winter is nothing short of amusing, and her latest music only continues to prove that.
There's a warm and soft sounding guitar presence within Summer Winter's latest single, "Âme Douce," which brings forth luscious indie elements. The approach Summer Winter had towards her vocal performance is incredibly ethereal and eclectic in its own way. Summer Winter establishes her distinguishable sound that draws in listeners due to its heavy level of allurement. Summer's vocals have always been faintly haunting in a way that feels almost dreamy.
It's safe to say that "Âme Douce" is a song that you can easily find yourself getting lost in---if it's not Summer's enticing vocal play, then it's the sedative properties of the production. All in all, listeners will most likely be intrigued by the genre-bending component of "Âme Douce," and the quality of expression that Summer is able to deliver gracefully will stick with you.
The fun level of play you put into your vocal sound is incredibly attractive. How did such a characterizable sound come about for you? Was it an aspect of your vocal performance that took focus and practice, or did it come more instinctively for you as a music artist?
It took me several years to find my expression in music. I grew up singing in choirs and felt that there was only one way to sing, so I often felt defeated because I couldn't belt or do crazy runs. But once I started writing melodies and lyrics that felt honest to my experience, I got more confident and found my groove. Harmony is my favorite part of singing and I find that to be my secret special love weapon.
Was there a differing approach to the way you constructed "Âme Douce", compared to previous single releases from you in the past?
I keep track of all the songs I've written and Âme Douce is somewhere on the first page of my documentation. Maybe in the first 30 songs, I had written. I recorded about 6 demos of the song and had all of these crazy extra sounds in most of them, but I finally decided to strip it back down and make it closer to the original. The whole album, Party of One, is an homage to my individuality and the skill set I had at the time. So, I thought it was fitting to keep it simple.
Is there always a certain ambiance you have in mind for your listeners when releasing a song, such as "Âme Douce?"
Romantic nostalgia is the vibe I hope people feel from the video and the song. The French part of the track roughly translates to "Thank you for the time, sweet soul." Honestly, our plan was to parody Lana Del Rey in the video and make it very dramatic, but I thought it to be much braver to release something on the serious side than parody someone else. I often sprinkle in lots of satire into my work as a means to protect myself, but that started to bore me and my creative team.
Would you say you take on an impulsive decision-making process when crafting your music, or are you more of an artist who prefers certain levels of the organization when it comes to the manifestation of your sound?
I believe spontaneity is a big key to magic during inception. But those exciting "I have an idea" moments aren't hard or lacking. It's the re-writing and re-working that is hard for me. The brain vomit part is often impulsive because it has to come out of me. But working at making the vomit sound like actual music often has to be organized. While I believe that music can be crafted and manifested to sound a certain way, I'm also a firm believer in our sounds being direct expressions of who we are. I try not to calculate and change my stuff too much. People love Nickelback and Papa Roach, someone will like my sound too.
What has been keeping you inspired this year?
I love finding footage or recordings of early work from my idols. The rawness of beginnings is magnetic to me. I've also been incredibly inspired and humbled by the leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement. The love, creativity, rage, and perseverance of our current civil rights movement motivated me to do better. It's also been wonderful watching artists use their gifts to spread awareness and raise funds to fuel the movement. Re-imagining a safer world for everyone is the most damn inspiring thing I can think of.