I thought that YLT’s Summer Sun was beautiful, but, on second listen, it turns out that the album is actually just boring, with the exception of the only non-meandering song on it, “Little Eyes.” Georgia’s vocals on that track are also among her best, and her harmonizing with Ira is reminiscent of that on …Inside Out and I Can Feel the Heart… (e.g., ‘The Lie and How We Told It”, “Center of Gravity”).
“Season of the Shark” is livelier than the other tracks but comes across as misproduced and a bit flat, not to mention that Ira’s vocals are uninspiring (the tension in Ira forever trying to hit impossibly soft and sublime keys has often been much of the fun in listening to YLT, especially live, but here it’s lacking).
The Jazzier numbers, “Georgia vs. YLT” and “Let’s be Still,” come close to self-indulgent noodling (though the former does feature some well-conceived percussion and amazingly precise feedback), as several other reviewers have written.
Finally, Georgia’s “Today is the Day” sounds like one of those couple songs on Fakebook that are too tender to be interesting. What this album needed was more “Yellow Sarong” and less “Andalucia.”
So, yes, Summer Sun is a disappointment, but I have hope that the next YLT album, rumored to be made up of less-jazzy songs recorded during the same session, will be out soon and have the energy and feeling so sorely missing here.