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Who doesn’t miss the carefree days of their childhood summers? No mortgages to worry about, no boring jobs, no career plans, no family to take care of… Summer vacations were just months of idle joy, with nothing to do but sleep in, hang out, get a tan, and look for “summer love.” And what better way to soothe the longing for summertime in the dead of winter than with a set of summer songs?
With the aptly titled “Summertime Love EP,” A Permanent Shadow fondly recalls the days when the radio provided the soundtrack to these long summer days and nights away from school and other responsibilities that would dominate our future lives.
The set begins with a mashup of Adamski’s “Killer” and Sabrina’s hit, “Boys (Summertime Love).” Says CP Fletcher, vocalist for the band: “Sabrina’s song has been on my mind for a long time; In fact, we covered it once for a live session and liked it so much that we decided to record it properly for this occasion.”
Other covers include “Self-Control,” written by Italian singer Raf and made famous by the late Laura Brannigan in the summer of 1984. A Permanent Shadow sped up the song and almost stripped it of its signature riff to show a different side to this mega-hit.
Other tracks included on the EP are The Beloved’s “Sweet Harmony,” best recorded for its fiery video, as well as Scottish band Danny Wilson’s “Mary’s Prayer,” a beautiful, melancholic single that rocked the airwaves in 1987. The final track is Anni-Frid Lyngstad’s “I Know Something’s Going On,” originally written by Russ Ballard and produced by none other than Phil Collins. Once again, A Permanent Shadow stripped the song down to its essence and gave it a sheen that has little in common with the former ABBA singer’s version. “Doing covers is a lot of fun,” Fletcher confirms, “it’s a fantastic exercise to take other artists’ music and approach it from a different angle.”
Fletcher and multi-instrumentalist and producer Valentí Nieto recorded the EP in Barcelona, with the participation of Jonah A. Luke, guitarist and singer of The Foxholes and Fletcher’s bandmate in the Spanish indie rock band We Are Mono.
“Summertime Love” will be available on all digital platforms from January 17. The single “Killer Boys” will be released on January 5, CP Fletcher’s birthday.
For more information, visit www.apermanentshadow.com
