PWNT – Days in the Summer

Label: Acrophase Records
Released: 25th June 2021

Play What’s Not There, or PWNT, has Kosta Galanopoulos taking on a dream-pop project from his home base in LA, transporting listeners onto an inflatable flamingo in a Californian pool, kicking back and drinking cocktails in an unbuttoned floral shirt; debut LP ‘Days in the Summer’ certainly delivers on its title and then some.

The album manages to effectively balance the glittering synths and smooth vocals of 2010s indie-pop with the natural energies created by ringing percussion and floating flutes found in 60s psychedelia, with even some oddly appropriate brass and strings thrown in for good measure. This amalgamation of sounds and genres culminates in a consistently entrancing headspace – it generates loose and light moods that are joyous to slip into and become absorbed into a floating aura. Though songs like ‘Feeling in the Air’ truly match the dream-pop label, it is more this indefinable feeling that ties the 14-track release together.

On enchanting tracks like ‘Funny’, ambient sections effortlessly transition into guitar solos or bass grooves which pull on funk and jazz influences; key single ‘Red Reflections’ varies its tempo with fast boppy sections juxtaposed against slow, deeper moments; ‘Shortcuts’ radiates a joyful yet subdued and reflective tone which is established through light vocals and elegant implementation of natural instrumentation, despite the overall alt-pop tone being rooted in a synth backing.

‘Days in the Summer’ is a sublime introductory record, bringing elements of its various recording locations into a warped and expansive atmosphere that really is so-laidback-it’s-almost-horizontal. Lay down under the sun, click play and become instantly mesmerised by gooey and reverb-soaked environments that seamlessly establish a dynamic and animated body of work to treat your auditory senses with.