Tell The Summer Hang On by Some Velvet Morning – Album Review
By Ellie Victor
Despite the name, anyone coming to Some Velvet Morning expecting silken Lee Hazlewood crooning or desert-noir oddness may need to recalibrate.
The North London trio, now five albums into a 25-year career, operate in a much more chart-facing, stadium-bothering space: somewhere between The Script, OneRepublic, mid-period Fleetwood Mac and the sort of polished pop-rock that sounds designed to carry well beyond the back wall of a festival field.
That is not a criticism. There is craft here, and plenty of it. Tell The Summer Hang On is a warm, expansive record, one that tries to move beyond the constraints of a straight indie-rock trio and into something broader, sunnier and more textural. At its best, it succeeds handsomely. At other times, it strains a little too visibly for uplift, mistaking size for emotional weight.
Some Velvet Morning, 2026
image: Paul Tunkin
“Confidence”
Opener ‘I Never Knew What Love Could Do’ begins with gentle piano chords that briefly threaten a Coldplay ballad, before mutating into something more widescreen. It is nicely handled, building with tasteful assurance, though not quite memorable enough to make the grand gestures fully stick. The title track fares better: a 70s-esque toe-tapper with a rolling, good-natured momentum that carries a whiff of ‘Stuck in the Middle With You’ without falling into outright pastiche.
The album’s classicist instincts are more rewarding on ‘Please Don’t Drown Again’, where Elton-ish ivories and a faint American twang in the delivery place it within touching distance of Madman Across The Water. It has character, and a pleasing confidence in its own melancholy. ‘Courts and Cathedrals’ is lovelier still: a spectral, washed-out summer stroll, lifted by what sounds like the bright, clean clarity of glockenspiel. It is one of the moments where the album’s recurring summer imagery works best.
‘Holiday’ sounds like the band’s best chance of a hit. It is hooky, direct and likeable without ever quite becoming anthemic, which may sum up the record’s virtues and limitations in miniature. Some Velvet Morning clearly understand choruses, but the album rarely surprises.
“Striking”
The exception is ‘The Architect’, easily the standout track. Here, the band come closer to the mythic storytelling suggested by their name, with Morricone-esque backing, dustblown atmospherics and a sense of narrative scale that gives the song genuine presence. It is cinematic not synthetic, ambitious not boastful.
Not everything works. ‘Happiness’ aims for feel-good release but ends up irritating this listener, its brightness tipping into something a little too eager. Yet the album recovers beautifully with closer ‘It’s Later Than We Know’, which achieves some of the neon-lit, late-night beauty of The Clientele: reflective, elegant and a little bruised around the edges.
Tell The Summer Hang On is not a major reinvention, nor is it flawless, but it is a polished, occasionally striking album from a band that knows how to shape melody, mood and scale.
7/10
Ellie has spent over three decades dissecting riffs, rhythms, and rockstar egos, all in pursuit of the perfect review. Her music writing journey began at 12 with a glowing 10/10 diary entry for Echo and the Bunnymen, and she’s been chasing that high ever since. Armed with encyclopaedic knowledge and a soft spot for the sonically daring, Ellie will review anything that’s put in front of her – as long as it’s on vinyl.
