A Love Letter to the Past: Summer Salt’s “Reside”
Album Review ★ Alyssa Bushman ★ @lissyb_21 ★ 2 Minutes
The four members of Summer Salt are a group of childhood friends formed in Austin, Texas in 2012. The band is known for its indie surf rock sound that has soundtracked many summers. Personally, I was in high school making Candy Wrappers (off of their 2017 EP So Polite) my alarm that went off at 5:00 am every morning. Whatever the use, their songs create a soft summery vibe that calms the mind.
The band released their fourth album Reside on November 7th, 2025. The band’s drummer and multi-instrumentalist Eugene Chung took the lead in songwriting for their fourth album Reside along with the band’s vocalist and guitarist Matthew Terry.
Summer Salt via Andrew Reiner
Reside is still that groovy surf rock style that we all know and love with little hints of experimental sounds sprinkled in. Most notably, the writing style feels like it has a lot more depth than previous albums. The album opens with this really sharp guitar sound that then transitions into this sunshine-sounding guitar riff on Better that feels familiar to the band’s style.
Julian is a beautiful collection of harmonies and echoing guitars. Strawberry Sunrise (feat. Ruru) pairs the soft instrumentation of Summer Salt with Ruru’s enchanting voice. Morning Dew is a personal favorite of mine off of this particular album. It feels like the perfect combination of their old surf rock sound and a new groovy experimental mix that adds some intrigue.
This album was a rich collection of songs that accurately represent this time in the career of Summer Salt. This is best represented in the song's title track Reside where the lyrics state, “And nothing’s really changed/ in our lives/ Except we reside”. Reside feels like Summer Salt’s love letter to the past that built them up and the future that motivates them forward.
