Advance Base: Summer Music

Advance Base makes the kind of music that fits summer in a particular way—not bright or uplifting exactly, but wistful. Matthew Rowe’s synth-pop has this nostalgic pull that works when you’re driving around in the heat, or sitting somewhere you know you won’t be much longer. There’s melancholy threaded through the brightness of it, which is why it sticks with you more than proper summer pop. It’s the sound of knowing something’s already fading while it’s still happening.