Napoleon Suarez – Boy of Summer [Album Review]

I’m falling through the winter, spring into the summer.  It’s our time right now doing what we wanna.

So I was working on my latest playlist recommendations post and usually I dont single out any one artist, track, or album but I’m making an exception this month.  My man Napoleon Suarez just put out a full-length album that is best described as “20 tracks of straight filters, over basslines, over strings, over drums, over samples.”

Boy of Summer is exclusively instrumental with the exception of the title track and the best way I can think to describe it i that it’s a killer soundtrack for really any mood.  Whether you need to get pumped up or zen out and get shit done, Boy of Summer has the effect of being exactly what you need at that time.

As I mentioned, the 20-track collection is almost entirely instrumental and in my personal opinion the perfect background music for the workday.  The overall tone of the album has a sense of definition and clarity to it that makes it great for keeping you motivated and inspired but subtle enough that it doesn’t distract from your daily activities.  I’ve also found its great for working out for much of the same reasons: you can switch from active to passive listening in keeping with your mood; let your mind wander or dive deep in concentration.

The fact that the album can be many things to many people is not unsurprising when you think about the inspiration behind the tracks.  The album was designed specifically as an outlet to represent the evolution of maturity through music.  We all have different avenues for expressing ourselves and sharing our story (some people write, others paint, and others still may create short films or design websites) and Napoleon is able to capture his own story in these tracks. I’m extremely grateful to have been able to experience the album that resulted from months and months of hard work and be able to feel that passion come through in his music.

While I recommend you listen to the album in its entirety, I did have a few tracks I wanted to highlight:

For My Hometown

What’s interesting about this track for me is it doesn’t make me think about my original hometown in Connecticut but my adopted “hometown” of Philadelphia.  To me it’s an expression of pride in your history while at the same time challenging others to broaden any preconceived notions they may have.  One of the best uses of vocals as an instrumental element on the whole album, For My Hometown also shows how a well-designed melody can really carry a song from start to finish and keep the listener engaged.

Moving On

This track literally gave me chills when I first heard it and I immediately texted Napoleon about the effect it had on me.  Turns out this was the first beat he made for the album and one that he simply described as “special.”  The track consists of predominantly piano melodies coupled with almost unexpected percussion beats that break things up just when you start to feel like you’ve figured it out.

Boy of Summer

This one is easy to see why it stands out because it is the lone track on the album where he laid rhymes over the instrumental.  Written and recorded by Napoleon himself, the title track highlights the influences that have shaped his music, from Dilla to his younger cousin to his roots back at Best Out Productions.

Although he chose to place this track at the end of the album, which I expect was to keep it from detracting from the instrumentals, I almost recommend giving this a listen first so that you get a real sense of who the artist is behind the beats and lets you experience the rest of the album on a much more personal level.

If you’re interested in learning more about the genesis of the album, Napoleon wrote up a great introspective post on the Boy of Summer blog.  You can also listen to the album or download it here and definitely show Napoleon the love on Twitter once you’ve had a chance to give it a listen.