Where to Go From Here

Following their debut self-titled album, NZCA Lines pushes their music much further for this second album Infinite Summer. This expanse in music in part from NZCA Lines artist Matt Lovett teaming up Charlotte Hatherley, guitarist for Bat for Lashes and Ash, and Sarah Jones, the drummer from Hot Chip, along with signing on with Memphis Industries. Both of these changes have allowed NZCA Lines to evolve more into an electronic powerhouse than found on their previous album.

Infinite Summer’s  intro, “Approach,” kicks off the album in a classically inspired way. Lines in French open the album up which are coupled with a string quartet, helping to establish a darker sound. But this atmosphere ends with the abrupt stop of this intro song and is not brought back in. “Persephone Dreams” has more of a true intro for this album, as it falls right into the realm of dream. It definitely has a strong summer vibe with its lyrics being about looking for love and the steel drum solo that shows up half way through. The album’s namesake song falls right in line with this feeling.

Infinite Summer is an album filled with what summer is supposed to be about: love with hints of nostalgia. At its core, it holds to the essence of what makes up dream pop (found mostly in the lyrics) but in ways, it does push a bit further than most other dream pop albums. Though there is not a lot of stretching to lyrical content, it is in the music where NZCA Line pushes more outside what is expected for its genre. On Infinite Summer, the sound has a lot more texture and there is more movement within each song; this may be in part to the expanded group. Infinite Summer shows how much NZCA Lines has grown, however, it also shows they’re potential to grow even more.