Track Review: All I Need // Max Summers
A simple country boy now residing in London, UK-based Max Summers is bringing his own breed of pop to the music scene. Travelling during his adult years, Max gained diverse cultural experiences and he expresses these ideas through his unique melodies. Featured on The Other Side Reviews, YMX, Roadie Music and several online playlists, the new artist is definitely making a splash. We have the honour of introducing you to Max Summers with his debut single ‘All I Need’.
Produced by London-based producer Jonny Knowles, ‘All I Need’ has a strong commercial pop arrangement but with the intensity of a Leonard Cohen folk song. Lying somewhere between Charlie Puth and Shawn Mendes, Max uses powerful beatboxes, synths and an underlying piano resulting in a hazy ambience. Kaleidoscopic in its sound, the track flows with a somewhat soothing nature; however, the delicate melancholy comes through with the engaging lyricism. It is this juxtaposition between pain and pleasurable sounds that makes Max an innovative artist.
Describing his inspiration as his “…whole childhood until my 25 years old”, Max Summers’ music is an exposition of his personal fragility, vulnerabilities and sentimentality. Using a personal narrative, Max connects with listeners in ‘All I Need’ touching on family relationships and the unwanted disintegration thereof. He shares that “…my song [‘All I Need’] is about the relationship with my sisters who disappeared after I moved out of the house and then France for America. We never managed to become connected again after that, we are like three strangers who do not know each other. The connection is broken and will stay that way as it is now too late.”
Considering the poignancy of the content, you might call this is a sincere but sad tale. No person wants to lose their precious sibling connection, but sometimes it happens and that’s the difficult reality. I am not one for commercial pop music so I was wary when listening to ‘All I Need’. What I can say is I definitely enjoyed it and cannot wait for more from Max Summers.