For American DJ John Summit, comfort is found in the chaos of jetting around the world to play sold-out concerts running on no sleep, all while producing chart-topping house music singles.
Summit dropped his debut album Comfort In Chaos on July 12, containing some of his best songs yet. After solely releasing singles for eight years, this marks a major milestone for the Chicago-born DJ and producer.
Summit rose to fame working at an accounting firm by day and DJ-ing Chicago clubs by night. Now, he performs at events like Coachella and Electric Daisy Carnival with energy-filled performances of hit singles “Shiver” and “Where You Are,” both of which are featured on the new album.
While some tracks were more enjoyable than others, any house music fan can find a song they enjoy off the album.
The aim of Comfort In Chaos was to experiment with releasing music of styles that ventured from his familiar big festival hits. Summit carefully mixes tracks that blend dreamy, trance-like vocals with heavy bass and synth, such as on songs, “EAT THE BASS,” “Resonate” and “Go Back.”
Out of the 12 songs, three stood out stylistically and best highlighted the album’s experimental goal.
“Tears” is an outstanding mix of lyricism and electronic beats. Paige Cavell’s powerfully emotional voice when singing about being broken apart by love pairs perfectly with the progression of soft piano, slowly developing into a high tempo EDM-style bass that suits the big festival feel that Summit fans love.
From Summit especially, “palm of my hands” was not a song expected from the album. The light, dreamy style of singing from venbee, similar to indie-pop artists such as Clairo and beabadoobe, diversified the album and treated fans of multiple genres.
Layered under an electronic beat background, the combination of genres is a pleasant surprise to end off the album. It contrasts to Summit’s usual progressive house style, with the synth and bass staying at a similar rhythm and tempo throughout.
The song could be regarded as boring and anticlimactic compared to Summit’s other work. While it lacks the progression into a beat drop followed by high-energy musicality, would be enjoyable for indie fans craving more musical predictability.
“Stay With Me,” featuring EDM artist Of The Trees, was another more experimental track, with eerie echoing vocals and chirping birds mixed into the instrumental.
At four minutes, the song could definitely be compressed — especially with the unchanging tempo and vocal repetitiveness. However, it does differ from Summit’s dance hits and shows off a different style, which is on brand for the album.
Overall, Comfort In Chaos is a great listen from start to finish. Some songs moreso matched the theme of comfort rather than chaos, and vice versa. As promised, the album provided variety and innovativation as Summit mixed tracks that transcended genres and captivated listeners worldwide.
With the release of this album, audiences can expect more contemporary works from Summit as he is set to continue his tour, visiting a new country or state every couple of days. He will play in Montreal at Olympic Park on Sept. 7.
Featured image by Dana Trippe.
