Single Review: Calvin Harris – ‘Summer’
2 min read
Scottish DJ Calvin Harris first burst onto the music scene in 2007, and was one of the key figures in establishing the ‘electronic dance music’ (EDM) genre that is so dominant in mainstream music now. He holds the record for the most top ten hits from one studio album (18 Months) on the UK Singles Chart with nine hits, surpassing even the legendary Michael Jackson. Harris has shown that, whilst there may be more contenders in the DJ field now, he’s still at the top, with Forbes magazine listing him as the highest paid DJ of 2013. With the mammoth success of 18 Months under his belt, can the first single from his upcoming fourth studio album reach the same success?
Summer follows the generic EDM formula of chorus/instrumental/chorus/instrumental. There is actually only 10 lines of lyrics, which are repeated twice. The shortness of this set of lyrics for the entire song means that they don’t offer any sort of depth or complexity to the audience. One thing that sets Harris apart from others is that he occassionally sings himself, rather than always relying on collaborations with big names. This is the case with Summer, and whilst his vocals may not be the best, it’s nice to see this change of pace. However, the instrumental breakdown doesn’t offer the same freshness; if you hadn’t heard the lyrics, you would not be mistaken in thinking it could be any of the other numerous EDM tracks out there.
Summer offers us everything we’ve already heard before, and doesn’t try to disguise it. Harris seems to be operating on the idea that if something is successful then you should stick to it, but this isn’t a great idea in music. Calvin Harris might have been at the top of his game in 2013, but he’ll really have to step things up if he wants it to stay that way.
