Everything about UK producer Martin J Cummings’s ‘1976′ screams ‘winter’, from his nom de plume Northerner on the Hibernate label to the frosted leaves adorning the cover, yet it sounds anything but. Rather, the glistening, buttery synths, washed up alongside barren tufts of guitar and hazy static recall a blissful summery sunset, stoned on tropical grass, Mai Tai in hand, swaying gently in a hammock. Well that’s the first track, ‘The End of December, and if the remaining pieces fail to reach that near-sublime level of sunkissed languor they all evoke similarly drowsy summertime settings. In the title track a throbbing low-end hints at Tim Hecker while glitchy snatches of harmonica lap the sides, ‘Can’t’ pits watery guitar chords against Pole crackle and sparkly synth blips, while ‘If You Could’ takes to the desert, brief snatches of Sergio Leone twang over flickering gusts of wind. Each piece flows freely into the next, bringing added consistency to an already taut album, making the enjoyment even more effortless.
Joshua Meggitt
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