Love Letter to a Record: The Dangerous Summer on SUSTO

Music Feeds’ Love Letter to a Record series asks artists to reflect on their relationship with an album they love and share stories about how it has influenced their lives. Here, AJ Perdomo from The Dangerous Summer shares his affection for SUSTO’s Ever Since I Lost My Mind.

USA-based rock band The Dangerous Summer have just released the album Coming Home, which means a lot to the scene stalwarts. “We named the album Coming Home because it’s about coming back to ourselves,” said vocalist and bassist AJ Perdomo. “We put everything we had into this record, and we are ready to share it with the world.”

The Dangerous Summer’s Love Letter to SUSTO’s Ever Since I Lost My Mind

AJ Perdomo: SUSTO, where do I start with this band? I can guarantee that they are the best band that you have yet to discover. Truly, it is mind blowing to me how good they are. Justin Osborne is insanely honest in his lyrics, and true to his soul. He has some very deep crevices inside of his heart, and you can hear the echoes tangled in every word.

I first heard SUSTO a couple of years ago, it was one of those random bands that plays automatically after Spotify has run out of content for you. I believe I was listening to their label mate, Ruston Kelly; another incredible artist. I heard the song ‘Jah Werx’ off of their former album ‘& I’m fine today’. It made you feel like I was on a cloud. It felt like falling from the sky in absolute slow motion. It was all the parts dreamy and indie, but with a very strong folk core.

I dove deeper into that album and loved it from front to back. I was lucky enough to see them live, and even meet them. It blew my mind how incredibly talented they were, but still such a small act, comparatively. To me they are Coldplay, I would pay $500 to see them in front of 10,000 people and feel blessed to even have them in my life.

Not long after, Ever Since I Lost My Mind came out. Putting that album on from start to finish is a journey. It is a walk through the mind and heart of Justin, who I think is one of the most prolific songwriters of our time. My all-time favourite track is ‘Weather Balloons’. A song that could be played on the radio tomorrow and would instantly be the biggest song in the world. A heart-wrenching song about a relationship and wanting to float away with the one you love.

Let me also say, one of my favourite drummers of all time, Marshall Hudson, playing the slickest beat on the planet, and just letting the song breathe around him. The production is so incredibly tasteful, Ian Fitchuck (Kacey Musgraves, Ruston Kelly) and Wolfgang Zimmerman making very intelligent artistic moves. Their production moves the entire record, through ups and downs. It becomes really sad at times, and really joyful at times. ‘Esta Bien’ is another incredible track, where Justin sings entirely in Spanish, but with a reaffirming thought; ‘It’s Okay’.

I love this record so much, and I could do a deep dive, but I want everyone to go and experience it themselves. Justin is an artist through and through. Listening to this record made me fearless in my own music. It is inspirational to see the space that SUSTO has carved. They innovate, but make you feel at home. They pull me back down to earth and centre my own creative desires. I love you SUSTO, I love this album. I’m sending our love letter out into the stratosphere.