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Oct 13, 2023 Web Exclusive By Marc Abbott

Nashville is a crowded place to be a singer/songwriter. But this, the self-titled sophomore album from Music City-resident Young Summer (aka Bobbie Allen), is the assured sound of an artist at the top of her game, elbowing her way to the front of the horde.

Key to this is how Allen melds memorable hooks and infectious choruses with lyrics that reveal the darker side of life, of relationships, of the self, creating a deceptively sunny soundtrack to its soul-searching content. There’s a vulnerability hidden beneath the arrangements. Kinda like a goth Karen Carpenter.

But, while her 2014 debut album, Siren, applied synth and drum machine to its decidedly ’80s, electro sound, Young Summer’s mid-tempo tunes have a keen feel, too, for the 1970s. Ladles of reverb, E.L.O-alike bouncing keyboard, Carole King-tinged piano, even a Santana-style guitar solo, are wrapped in a mellow nostalgia. Front and center, however, is Allen’s voice, dripping with more warmth than a fully clothed sauna, and so high up in the mix that you can’t help being captivated by every word.

The hopeful “I Still Like You” wrestles with past heartbreak, while the swoonsome “If The World Falls to Pieces” blends sparse piano and strings with a Lana Del Rey-rivaling vocal performance that urges us to find the good in the tumult of modern life. Moments of indignation burst through Young Summer’s predominantly bright sound, none more so than on “The Emperor,” the most mellifluous anti-Trump tune you’ll likely ever hear, on which Allen softly, chillingly, warns: “Get in line/Works every time/Goosebumps turned to goose steps.” And, on “Burning Down Paradise,” she chides, “If what you think is right/Then why’s everything on fire?”

It’s a challenge to condense the record’s 12 songs to a shortlist of favorites, but recent singles “Emotionally High” and “My My” showcase Allen’s heart firmly pinned to her sleeve. You’ll be powerless to resist swaying along to “Moonlight,” attempt to sing the high notes in “Heavy” at your peril, and good luck getting through the closing track with dry eyes.

Young Summer is packed with enough sing-along choruses to make it a perfect road trip record, but it’s softly spoken enough to soundtrack a candlelit dinner; it’s laced with ample angst to offer succor in a break-up, yet bristles with an optimistic disposition. There’s no contradiction in any of this; it is a record of easy maturity, great intimacy, and universal appeal. Plus, if this stands as a mark of progress, while a clutch of Allen’s earlier releases found fame in TV show soundtracks, Young Summer contains at least one dead cert James Bond theme. (www.youngsummermusic.com)

Author rating: 8/10