Have you ever spaced out for a moment in public and there isn’t a care or disturbance in the world that could ruin that momentary high of bliss, disconnected from reality? The brand-new collaboration between vocalist Jordana Nye (better known simply as Jordana) and indie darling outfit TV Girl, titled “Summer’s Over”, is just such a high. The sudden collaboration between the indie band and the singer was a surprise for sure, but a welcome one at that. Combining the heavily sampled and transient sound of TV Girl’s famously niche and carefree sound with Jordana’s beautify gentle yet piercing vocals is nothing short of serendipity. The spark for this collaboration came from a decent length of live shows together, specifically TV Gril’s anniversary tour for their magnum opus, “French Exit”. Once the pandemic hit in late March of 2020, effectively halting both the anniversary tour and all planned excursions, Jordana and TV Girl conspired to supply indie fans with their unique collaborative sound that would be missed out on otherwise.
The namesake of the album reminds us that summer is over, and it’s time to move on from the innocence and blithe nature of the mid-year break and come back to earth. This may sound contradictory to my summarization above, but the sound is what gives this track (and the entire EP) it’s dreamy, ethereal feel, with the crackling sound of a record peppering the sweet pitch bending of reused guitar riffs, all packaged neatly with the bow of Jordana’s soft voice. The next song, the cheeky “Lo on the Hi-Way” is a simple tune with a complex feel, requiring nothing but a catchy hook and Jordana’s purely simple lyrics to excite an endearing lightness of sorts in the listener. The face value ingenuousness of this song has charmed itself to me, making it my favorite of the project. “Jump The Turnstile” takes the feel in a different direction, relying on musical complexity to capture the fantastical vibes. TV Girl employs their famous use of sampled sound bites on this track, and a funneled beat that at first listen would have you wondering if there was something wrong with your earphones. Simply put, this song has all of the indie charm TV Girl fans would die for and then some. The next track employs a similar funneled, grainy sounding beat of the last song, but aside from that, the sound on this album is much more poppy and mainstream. However, it still keeps an indie bedroom-pop feel through somber musicianship and Jordana’s immaculate vocals. If you want a master class on turning words into sound through music, look no further than “Ordinary Day”. The lax beat and vocals, mixed with jangled acoustics and percussion, all accented with an organ-like solo and fills makes this track feel like the musical embodiment of any other ordinary day. The next track, “Better in the Dark”, is just as simple musically as the earlier track “Lo on the Hi-Way”, but pales into comparison. Though the hook is just as catchy, if not more, there is something about this entry that makes it feel incomplete in its simplicity. TV Girl saves this track through their characteristic sampling of niche rap lyrics, and what sounds to be an old news interview, which gives the track a little more individuality, if not still sounding a little bit dull. The final song on this short but sweet ride, “The Party’s Not Over”, is an appropriate send off, with what I interpret as a contemporary maturity in the project’s sound, accomplished using a true piano sound for the melody and an extended harmony by all the voices on the album.
Overall, this project is just enough to keep indie fans satiated until TV Girl and Jordana continue their domination of the live stage. The simple production formula employed for each track may not be enough to impress the most critical indie fans, but I would argue that such simplicity is an integral part of the EP’s charm. Simply put, “Summer’s Over” gives enough substance to warrant a dive into the TV Girl catalog and a future ticket purchase.
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