Teddy Wender & Jazzmatik – “Summer Shirt”

Teddy Wender & Jazzmatik – “Summer Shirt” – Single Review

You know…no matter how many songs I listen to, or however many reviews I seem to write, I still pride myself on the fact that I’m more than amazed, still to this day, by the things people will choose to write about.  Outright fascinating really – this whole world is your oyster, as they say – and it’s seriously such a beautiful thing to see where music takes the minds of the creative community.  You wanna write about geography?  Do it!  You wanna write about Cameron Diaz?  Right on!  You feel like rockin’ about wearing a “Summer Shirt?”  Why the heck not?  As I am sure I will repeat until the day that I die – none of us out here need another song about chicks & cars – anything outside of that tired ol’ pairing, is more than welcome over here, that I can tell ya for certain.  So bring it on Teddy – I dig your style there brother.

In this particular instance, I think Wender’s played this more than correctly.  While yes, “Summer Shirt” is indeed, about a “Summer Shirt” – Teddy didn’t make the mistake of trying to get all kinds of extra poetic about this moment…in fact, you’re bound to hear this single as one of the most natural sounding cuts you’ll likely hear this year.  Easygoing…lighthearted…fun…relaxed…chilled-out…it’s all of these things and more.  I might even go as far as to say it’s one of the nicest surprises my speakers have had this year with respect to all of what I’ve mentioned.  If Teddy was gonna get all philosophical about the deep meanings behind a “Summer Shirt” in this new single, we might be having a completely different conversation here today – but the way he’s gone about this whole concept from the song itself to the shiny summery video he’s got along with it…I mean, he nailed this.  He’s kept the lyrical aspect to a pretty bare minimum…a supporting role, if you will…when you hear them show up, the vocals act like another aspect of the music itself, providing another layer of uncomplicated sweet rhythm & harmony.  Essentially, no matter what it is you normally listen to, you’re not likely to run into a song as inoffensive as this one is for quite some time – “Summer Shirt” was organically designed to be enjoyed by everyone.

I also think it’s just an interesting concept for the fact that…like…I think the last time I actually bought clothes for myself was back in grade ten and I’m in my forties now.  I just have shirts.  No summer shirt, no winter or fall shirts – just shirts, hanging in a closet, ready to be worn whenever I need to cover the natural sweater I have that, incidentally, covers me from head to toe like I’m the missing link.  I found myself sitting here thinking about all that as a natural side-effect of listening to this single…realizing that, of course normal people would have a “Summer Shirt” – there are clothes for all occasions.  Supposing that I choose to leave the confines of the studio here one day in the future and venture back out into the wide open world (not likely, but possible all the same)…I might just need to update my threads a lil’ bit; or maybe I’m just feeling the pressure now – thanks a lot Teddy.  Now I want seasonal wardrobe.

When you read about the storied & ultimately, legendary career that Teddy Wender has already enjoyed to this point in his life as an artist/founding member of the 80s band known as 3-D – believe me, the last thing the guy needs is any advice from a hack like me on how to do this or that any better than he already is.  Beyond that, he’s given me no reason to dig into my sack of semi-coherent but sometimes-insightful wisdom – “Summer Shirt” is a solid tune, and it genuinely is what it is – we could philosophize about something like this all day long, but really, it’d be a writer creating a narrative to support some kind of crazy theory, and typing out long-winded sentences that really don’t go anywhere.  It’s a song about a shirt.  It sounds great – it IS great – but at the end of the day, it’s still a song about a shirt…or at least, that is how it appears, on the surface.  If you wanna get philosophical & all that, then we dig into how a song like this provides warm sensory vibes that’ll just make ya feel good – much like how you would when you’re lookin’ your best and ready to rock the town for a night out, dressed in your new “Summer Shirt,” obviously.  Like I’ve been tellin’ ya from the get-go here – Teddy played this perfectly – a song like this, with the theme it has, wasn’t meant to be complex or over-complicated; a concept like this needed the chilled-out vibes it received from Teddy Wender, and that’s exactly what it got.  You’re not gonna find anything out of line…the musicianship is flawless, the lyrics might be used sparingly, but the vocals themselves, are as incredibly welcoming & enticing as they were intended to be; all-in-all, “Summer Shirt” delivers on creating accessible sound from start to finish that no one would object to.  Hard to argue with results like these – and the video Teddy’s got supporting “Summer Shirt” expertly directed by Josh Wehle is equally perfect…it’s celebratory, it’s bright, charming, and fun – all of this is seamlessly suits the entire lighthearted vibe at the core of this single.  Stellar keys, excellent guitars & bass-lines…it’s a tight lil’ tune!  I gotta give credit where credit is due – if you had told me I was gonna roll out of bed sometime this week and start digging on a song about a shirt, I probably would have laughed & just said ‘okay’ knowing that it’s always a possibility – but actually hearing it was a genuine treat.  Teddy’s got a single here that goes straight for the soul and provides real sunshine to your speakers & screens…in my heart of hearts, I like to believe we’ve all got time for a track like this one here.  As smooth, natural, and organic as sound can be, “Summer Shirt” is a perfect fit for Teddy Wender & Jazzmatik – you’ll wanna lay on the beach in the sun for hours with this song on repeat.

Find out more about Teddy Wender from his official homepage at:  https://teddywender.com

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