Summer Salt Share 'Supermoon' From new LP 'Campanita'

Austin, Texas trop-pop duo Summer Salt (singer/guitarist Matthew Terry and drummer Eugene Chung) are fresh off an incredible string of dates in Asia where the band sold out three headline shows and played to thousands of fans at music festivals.

To mark their stateside return they're sharing the new song "Supermoon", the latest single off their forthcoming album Campanita, due out May 9th via Wax Bodega. It follows lead single and title track "Campanita", praised by Paste as "a perfect example of their masterclass command of hooks, melodies, and feel-good vibes."

This spring and summer Summer Salt will embark upon a major tour of the United States. Upcoming tour dates can be found below and at summersalt.band/tour.

"My family and I were getting really into moon phases at the time when I was piecing together 'Supermoon'" shares Terry.

"Melissa, my wife, believes in the charges of the full moon and so we ritually do moon water and if it's a supermoon you are supercharged after drinking the water. I wanted to create a pop song that had a very 'follow along' story of a character who makes a supermoon appear to save themselves at the end.

After many attempts I went back to music skills I'm a little better at and that is making jazzy pop tunes with more environmental/descriptive lyrics. I took inspiration from songs sung in the 40s and 50s, one that I imagined a lonely sailor would sing in some old port town, filled with chromatic half steps to give it that surfy ocean music thing.

I put the word supermoon at the end of the chorus and freaked! I loved it. All in all this song became something more genuine to me as I gave into the kind of music I make without trying too hard."

Campanita takes its title from a nickname given to Terry's late sister, Madeleine, by their grandmother. When Maddie and Terry's cousin, Angelina, passed away in January 2021, Terry was shaken to his core; it was the first time he'd experienced this kind of loss. He became determined to create something that would live on and celebrate the life of both his sister and cousin forever.

The album is a breezy, blissful, and intimate monument to love, family, and everything in between. Its 12 tracks meander through sun-soaked and rose-tinted memories, deep rooted relationships and loss. The album drifts across a palette of dreamy jazz, bedroom pop, beachy bossa nova, and desert-night indie rock.

There are guitars, keys, and gorgeous, cloud-light harmonies, but there are strings, synths, horns, and harmonicas, too.

The process of creating Campanita, the band's fourth full-length release, allowed Terry to stay close to his sister and cousin, and the end result is a work that will not die: it will live on forever, drifting through the heavy, warm southwestern air.

The LP is a bold step forward in Summer Salt's skyward arc. Throughout the record's creation, drummer, percussionist, and keyboardist Chung experimented with new sonic elements, building a sound that's fuller and more textured. "As we get older and write more songs, Matt and I are getting more interested in the production side of things and trying to make things sound a little different than what we've been doing," says Chung.

Terry says of the writing process and the difficulty in writing about something so emotional, "Sometimes when I would be writing lyrics, it almost felt like they were gifts. It was like they were given to me." More than any record before it, Terry and Chung are excited to put Campanita into the world.

"It's here forever," says Chung. "Time can't take this away from us."

Listen to the new single here:

Upcoming Tour Dates

MAY
30 - Nashville, TN @ The Basement East
31 - Atlanta, GA @ Hell at The Masquerade

JUNE
01 - Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum
02 - Orlando, FL @ The Abbey
03 - Charleston, SC @ The Music Farm
04 - Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle
06 - Washington, DC @ Union Stage
07 - Asbury Park, NJ @ House of Independents
08 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Bowl
09 - Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
10 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry
13 - Toronto, ON @ The Axis Club
14 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Thunderbird Music Hall
15 - Columbus, OH @ Mahall's
16 - Detroit, MI @ El Club
17 - Chicago, IL @ Metro
18 - Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theatre
20 - St. Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall
21 - Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck
22 - Oklahoma City, OK @ 89th St.

JULY
07 - Dallas, TX @ The Echo Lounge
08 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk
09 - Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
11 - Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
12 - San Diego, CA @ The Observatory
14 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent
15 - Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory
16 - San Jose, CA @ The Ritz
18 - San Francisco, CA @ August Hall
19 - Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
21 - Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater
22 - Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
23 - Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory
25 - Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory
26 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
27 - Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre

Photo Credit: Ian Wellman

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