Before the sun-soaked sweetness of The Summer That Saved Me, Odeal had already built a world worth exploring. Lustropolis, his 2024 project, was the album that drew listeners into a fictional soundscape drenched in heartbreak, intimacy, and temptation. The music felt like neon after midnight: dimly lit, slow-burning, and deeply sensual. Across songs like “Temptress,” “You’re Stuck,” and “Blame U,” Odeal embodied a kind of R&B futurism that was experimental, atmospheric, and emotionally layered.

But if Lustropolis was the moody, magnetic after-hours, The Summer That Saved Me is what happens when the lights come up. It’s what follows once the fantasy fades and you’re left with your real feelings, your unfiltered self, and a suitcase full of memories from city to city.

Imagine stepping off a plane, sun still warm on your face, and feeling like you’ve collected pieces of yourself from every corner of the world. That’s exactly the feeling you get after listening to Odeal’s new EP, The Summer That Saved Me. It’s an intimate, globe-trotting love letter that is sun-baked, salt-kissed, and full of warm epiphanies.

Odeal has always had a way with seasons, but this summer, that signature softness meets freedom. While he has been bouncing between cities, including Paris, London, and LA, those soundscapes are stitched into this seven-track journey, which gives off a personal yet universal vibe.

The EP opens with “Miami”, featuring Leon Thomas. It begins quietly, with guitar strings and breathy vocals, but somewhere along the line, it fills with heart. He sings of longing and healing, while Leon’s verse turns it into a late-night confessional. The song alone could be the glue that holds this EP together.

“London Summers” follows with a rhythmic shift. It’s a love song to fleeting sun in the city, painted with Amapiano bounce and the languid cool of a South London July. Where “Miami” is raw and heart-wrenching, “London Summers” is joy wrapped in synth and groove, a snapshot of love in a familiar place

One of the EP’s most compelling moments comes with “My Heart,” where Odeal lets go of polish in favour of feeling. There’s a pulse to this one that pulls you in. The callback of “samba wey ah” follows with an upbeat tone, drawing you into another realm that gets you feeling elated.

Then comes “Obi’s Interlude”. Obi draws you in, in more ways than you can imagine, and this moment stops you in your tracks. It’s just him breathing, raw emotional tunes, not the regular way he’d sound.

“Monster Boys” flips it back to flirty, confident, lighter and nostalgic. Then “Patience” oozes respect and surrender about loving someone on their own time. Odeal’s voice lifts when he calls her Delilah in a way thats so catchy and just stays with you.

Finally, “In The Chair” closes the EP with a sensual and personal. A confession of a steamy hot night with his woman. In his words, “rocking you from left to right”. A nice way to wrap up a great summertime, if you ask me.

What elevates The Summer That Saved Me beyond just another solid R&B release is its context. Odeal reportedly scrapped two projects before landing on this one. He uses his travelling experience freely, unearthing the pieces of himself that eventually made it into this record. That experience of movement, of transition, is heavily infused in the music.

It’s in the soft shuffle of percussion that sounds like footsteps on a foreign street. It’s in the layered vocal harmonies that mirror long-distance calls. It’s in the lyrics, where love and loneliness speak the same language.

There’s just something refreshing about an artist who knows how to not over-sing, but lets silence and softness speak.

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