Samuelx - Summer Feeling

Samuelx finds meaning in life’s glitches. On Summer Feeling, the Brooklyn-based producer and self-proclaimed "underground digital popstar" transforms years of introspection into a vibrant left-field electronic record that feels remarkably in step with the present moment. Drawing from techno, hyperpop, trance, and club music, Samuelx creates a world where “the club meets fantasy.” However, beneath its synthetic instrumentation and internet-age aesthetics it is a meditation on perception and identity, examining how identity can become warped and reinforced in an increasingly digital world.

That exploration carries throughout the album's 10-track runtime. Moving briskly from one idea to the next, Summer Feeling leaves little room for filler. Tracks like “Lets Have Fun,” “Black Leather Boots,” and the title track “Summer Feeling,” reinforce the album's pop instincts, while cuts such as “Drowned” and “Gone” offer introspective alternatives. The sequencing is one of the record's greatest strengths, constantly shifting between release and reflection without losing momentum. As Samuelx explains, Summer Feeling embraces "the victories, the heartbreaks, the parties, the messy moments, the crashouts, and the quiet breaths in between," finding beauty in the parts of ourselves that "can't be optimized."

At times, the album’s whirlwind pacing leaves certain ideas feeling underdeveloped, and listeners looking for traditional dance music structure may find some endings unresolved. However, fans of hyperpop, left-field electronic music, and the post-indie sleaze dancefloor revival will find plenty to connect with here. Summer Feeling’s rough edges ultimately work in its favor, reinforcing the record's central themes rather than undermining them.

Within a scene increasingly shaped by genre fluidity and digitally native artists, Samuelx occupies a compelling space between underground club experimentation and pop songwriting. The album is rooted in questions of perception, examining how technology, memory, and self-image can warp our understanding of reality. Samuelx never treats those distortions as something to overcome. As he writes, "being human has never been about becoming perfect. It's about experiencing life fully." That perspective gives Summer Feeling its lasting resonance, transforming what could have been a collection of club tracks into a thoughtful reflection on how we navigate an increasingly mediated world.