Summer Salt Brings Us Back to What We Miss with Single “Deja Vu”

Summer Salt’s latest single “Deja Vu” fulfills the promise of the perfect summer. The self-described coral reef rock group has long condensed the feeling of a carefree sunny afternoon, and this release does not disappoint.

The mellow instrumentation, with its limited percussion and twangy guitar, are quintessential beach rock. But this particular song is less surf and more sleep as the layered vocals — by lead vocalist Matt Terry and bandmate Winston Taylor Triolo — give the lyrics a lullaby-like quality. This song is best played on a breezy afternoon, either when napping on the couch or lazing with friends.

Don’t be fooled by my sleepy praises — the dreamy textures elevate the equally dreamy lyrics, which calls on the adventures of childhoods. The lyricism speaks of psychedelic wildflowers and mystical woods. It puts the listener into another world, as if stepping into a fairy ring.  

At the heart of this song is the nostalgic tranquility of summer vacation. With lyrics like “I tried to capture photographs/ But none could ever catch the dream my eyes had seen,” and the titular “closed our eyes and hoped for deja vu” suggests the want to experience summer as it felt when we were young: fleeting yet so incredibly vibrant. 

Not only does Summer Salt yearn over this feeling, they manage to capture it. The lyrics muse over how the childhood summer lives on: “I Don’t know what we will find /Was it with me the whole time?” If you listen to this song, you will also tap into this enigmatic, perfect summer.

This is Summer Salt’s second single of 2024, preceded by “Poolside.” Both singles herald their Fall 2024 tour, “Driving Back to Hawaii.”