They may be one twin sister down, otherwise things remain stubbornly unchanged in camp Múm. Recorded largely in a deserted lightkeeper’s house, Summer Make Good boasts appropriate titles such as ‘Hu Hviss – A Ship’, ‘Abandoned Ship Bells’and ‘Oh How The Boat Drifts’, and the overall effect is a tender, intimate exploration of heavenly, frosted soundscapes.
Often caught between the minimalist vista of Brian Eno and Autechre and the oddly pastoral leanings of Low and Four Tet, the album is a mass of pleasant contradictions. To create a work that is droney and baroque, glacial yet warm-hearted, cute and sweetly warped is a true achievement. ‘The Ghosts You Draw On My Back’, a marriage of accordion and glitchy dots and loops, is touchingly haunting, while ‘Weeping Rock, Rock’ is a pastel-coloured yet emotionally charged track.
It comes as little surprise to find Múm are part of the revolution that is the Kitchen Motors music collective, which is the best thing to come out of Iceland since Sigur Ros. Like Sigur Ros, and possibly Stina Nordenstem, Mum are ever mindful of the art of gossamer delicate explosions and quietly sweeping atmospherics, making their Powerbooks come to life in the most arresting way possible.
In sum, Múm, Summer Make Good is a wonderfully ethereal and charming record, brimming with sticky sweetness and notions of a snowflake-covered, futuristic other-world.