After years in the making here at last is Illumination, the fully realised debut album from Melbourne's favourite psychedelic indie-electronic adventurers Miami Horror. With Illumination, Miami Horror has delivered on two years of teeth-cutting live shows and an ever escalating wave of buzz that’s made the group bonafide blog darlings the world over. But what’s most amazing about the grand arrival of Illumination is that the roots of the record stretch back countless moons to when Miami Horror began as just one synthesizer-obsessed producer in 2007 huddled over a laptop in a bedroom-come-studio and the album itself just a spark waiting to be lit.
The afore mentioned synth tragic was, and let’s face it still is, electronic young gun Ben Plant, who kick started Miami Horror out of a love of Roland keyboards and French house, landing himself on Pitchfork’s hot-list overnight and copping a barrage of high profile remix requests from the likes of Datarock, PNAU and The Presets.
Yet it was while Ben was punching out 2008’s epochal Bravado EP that Miami Horror took off in a completely new and different direction. Characteristically wanting to flex his creative muscle and avoid the limitations of being stereotyped as simply a dance or electro act, Ben rewired Miami Horror’s genetic makeup, deputising the talents of Josh Moriarty, Aaron Shanahan and Daniel Whitechurch to form a new live band persona of Miami Horror, a whole new beast immeasurably more exciting than before.
“It started out that I didn’t want to have any guitar on the album besides a little funk guitar or disco bass,” Ben grins while explaining the turning point for Miami Horror’s evolution. “But then Josh came in and started playing all these other parts that sounded amazing. Paired with what I was working on, nobody was doing anything like it, so I knew we had to turn those sounds into a live thing and just go wild.”
It worked. Since the switch, Miami Horror has launched into dizzying new stratospheres, their well-polished chops as a group making for some unmissable sets at Australia’s biggest festivals, and that’s not to mention some A-list support slot call ups for everyone from Phoenix, Friendly Fires and La Roux to a hand-picked hook up from Lily Allen.
www.miamihorror.com
Summersun
Miami Horror Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That's how it was?
Keep holding on to everything
Reflecting on yourself with them
I don't wanna fall too far from you
If you wanna be the one to go
Everybody wants to take something home
In the Summersun I can't reveal
We go on and on
In the Summersun I will conceal
We go on and on
In the Summersun I can't reveal
We go on and on
In the Summersun I will conceal
We go on and on
on-oh-ah and on and on and on
on-oh-ah, on and on and on
on-oh-ah and on and on and on
on-oh-ah, on and on and on
In the Summersun I can't reveal
We go on and on
In the Summersun I will conceal
We go on and on
In the Summersun I can't reveal
We go on and on
In the Summersun I will conceal
We go on and on
Ooh its (never worked with fireworks?)
today (the field has sang again?)
But you're something so faint
And I don't want the seasons (to) change again
Keep holding on to everything
That's how it was?
Keep holding on to everything
Reflecting on yourself with them
I don't wanna fall too far from you
If you wanna be the one to go
Everybody wants to take something home
on-oh-ah and on and on and on
on-oh-ah, on and on and on
on-oh-ah and on and on and on
on-oh-ah, on and on and on
In the Summersun I can't reveal
We go on and on
In the Summersun I will conceal
We go on and on
In the Summersun I can't reveal
We go on and on
In the Summersun I will conceal
We go on and on
on and on and on
on and on and on (everything's changed again)
on and on and on (and everything's changed again)
on and on and on
The lyrics of Miami Horror's song 'Summersun' are about holding onto memories and relationships that once were, while simultaneously acknowledging that they might not have the same significance or power as they did before. The lines "Keep holding on to everything, that's how it was?" suggest that the singer is aware that they are clinging onto the past, but they don't know how else to approach it. Additionally, the repetition of "We go on and on" shows that this cycle of reflecting and holding on repeats itself endlessly. The lyrics "'I don't wanna fall too far from you/ If you wanna be the one to go/Everybody wants to take something home" could be interpreted as an admission that the meaningful connections we have with others are often temporary, yet we still want to hold onto a piece of them and never truly let go.
The repetitive nature of the chorus emphasizes the cyclical nature of nostalgia and the difficulty of moving on from the past. The repeated phrase "In the Summersun, I can't reveal" shows that while the singer is reflecting on this past relationship/memory, they are unable to fully express their emotions or articulate what it is they want or need. The lyrics "But you're something so faint/ And I don't want the seasons (to) change again" suggest a fear of losing what little remains of a past relationship/memory and not wanting to move on from it, even if it's only a shadow of what it once was.
Line by Line Meaning
Keep holding on to everything
Don't let go of everything that matters
That's how it was?
Is this how it has always been?
Reflecting on yourself with them
Examining yourself through your relationships
I don't wanna fall too far from you
I don't want to drift too far apart from you
If you wanna be the one to go
If you're the one who wants to leave
Everybody wants to take something home
Everyone wants something to show for themselves
In the Summersun I can't reveal
I can't be completely honest in the summer sun
We go on and on
We continue going through life without stopping
In the Summersun I will conceal
I will keep my true feelings hidden in the summer sun
on-oh-ah and on and on and on
Life continues endlessly
on-oh-ah, on and on and on
Life keeps going without end
Ooh its (never worked with fireworks?)
Experiencing something new and exciting
today (the field has sang again?)
The sound of the field comes alive today
But you're something so faint
You're not clearly defined
And I don't want the seasons (to) change again
I don't want anything to disrupt our current state
on and on and on (everything's changed again)
Life relentlessly persists even as everything around us changes
on and on and on (and everything's changed again)
We keep going even as everything changes around us
Contributed by Austin M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.