Heather Sommer Releases Nocturnal.
Written by: Caitlin Troutman
Heather Sommer may well be on her way to creating a needed soundtrack: music to play when mourning a crush that never turned into anything more, a type of heartbreak and yearning and embarrassment that doesn’t merit break-up-wallowing, but stings all the same.
Sommer’s new EP Nocturnal, released Friday, Feb. 19, consists of five tracks of soft, shiny songs that fuse dreamy electronics with gentle strumming, all with heartbreak themes and catchy hooks to encourage sing-a-longs.
The EP is most appealing at individual song’s intros, moments that highlight the contrasts between the tracks. Unfortunately, they lay the foundation for a sound that doesn’t quite take off, as there are no real peaks in the songs themselves. The bouncy pop beats with the ethereal, layered vocals, while not unappealing, result in a repetitive whole. There are some good turns-of-phrase sprinkled throughout, but lyrics teeter into generically simple, could really just use an editor.
The standout track is the closer, “I like you more in my dreams,” on which Sommer strikes a balance between acoustic warmth and poppy hooks, singing “We’ve been off-center for a while now...I’ve been wishing on a moonless sky.” The chorus is as catchy as any hit and broadly sentimental, the perfect formula for dance-around-the-living-room-jams.
As is, the music is a bit lacking in personality. I don’t hear, in these songs, what Sommer wants or who she wants to be. I don’t fully feel what is at stake in the narratives she’s creating, and the effect falls flat. But there’s promise, and I look forward to hearing more from Sommer once she branches out a bit.