Young Summer’s debut album provides soundtrack to fall

By: Bridget Jack – Staff Writer

With its debut album “Siren,” Washington, D.C.-based musician Young Summer (born Bobbie Allen) brings a hint of summertime sadness and nostalgia to the electro-pop music scene.

Having a number of songs featured on hit TV shows like “Grey’s Anatomy,” “The Vampire Diaries” and Pretty Little Liars, it’s no wonder this alternative album is full of stuck-in-your-head jams – although it’s not quite the summer playlist you might expect from the band’s name.

It’s been a little over a year since Young Summer released its first EP in June 2013. With catchy songs like “Fever Dream” and “Waves That Rolled You Under” featured on the EP, audiences have been patiently awaiting the release of a complete album, and I don’t think fans will be disappointed with the emergence of “Siren.”

Recorded in Nashville with songwriter Trent Dabbs and producer Jeremy Bose, Young Summer has a relatively small following, with a little more than 3,500 Twitter followers and close to 7,000 likes on Facebook. But Young Summer has performed all over the country including New York and Los Angeles, and popularity began gaining in anticipation of “Siren.”

It’s not hard to be drawn into the smooth yet animated sounds of Young Summer, whose songs allude to hints of sultry songstresses like Lana Del Rey and Marina and the Diamonds. The album encompasses a wide variety of genres, sounds and influences from different decades. The song “Siren,” for which the album was named after, has a distinct 1980s feel to it with the use of keyboards and a sort of new-wave disco vibe in the background.

The song “Propeller,” however, is very much a product of the “hipster era” as I like to call it – the emergence of slow-electro, study music that every person in skinny jeans and a plaid shirt seems to be listening to.

If you’re looking for a beach time, summer jam album – this isn’t it. When summer rolls around, you want songs that make you want to roll the windows down and enjoy the sunshine. Although a very enjoyable album, Young Summer is a bit of a misnomer. “Siren” makes me want to curl up with a good book and sip on hot chocolate as I watch snow fall outside my window. Perhaps Bobbie Allen should consider renaming her band to Young Winter or even Young Pumpkin Spice Latte Season?