Virtual Summer Sam Millar SKU: 27.00 27.00 £27.00 £27.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Earache Released Date: 27th September 2024 Buying Format: 1LP 1LP Coloured Vinyl Buying Options Choose an option1LP1LP Coloured VinylClear Virtual Summer quantity Add to basket ReservePre Order Add to your Wishlist Description Product Info Picture a time when you could have a good time all the time. It was an era when fast cars rolled under neon lights, yachts were a sensible housing decision and fighting for your right to party was a full time occupation. This mythical age had an equally flamboyant soundtrack to match, and it blared from boomboxes and dashboards in every time zone. It was the 1980s, and bands like Van Halen, Toto and Def Leppard personified a summertime sound built on big beats, bigger melodies and choruses so epic that singing along was the law, and places like Vegas, Hollywood, and Miami Beach became hedonistic epicenters of a global, sonic heatwave. Cruelly overlooked among these hard-partying capitals is the little town of Wigan, just outside of Manchester – average annual rainfall: lots. It was there that multi-talented musician Sam Millar was born, and where that 80s vibe has found new life in the form of his debut solo record. It’s called Virtual Summer, and it’s 14 slabs of the slickest sounds this side of a hot pink Mustang with the top down and the stereo way, way up. “Wigan’s just a little town, it’s not the nicest place – I know you don’t expect this sort of thing to come out of here, but that’s why it did,” says Millar. “Half the time it’s raining and miserable, so Virtual Summer is like tapping into summer whenever you need to, just put it on and it’s always there for you.” Raised on a parental diet of Slade, Springsteen and Sabbath, it wasn’t long before Millar soon discovered his own hard rocking obsessions, and if there’s a familiar ring to any of Virtual Summer’s dopamine cannon blasts then it’s because it’s the culmination of the guitar-slinging maverick’s lifelong adoration for the finely honed melodic perfection of the giants of AOR, and Toto in particular. “I guess you could call it cheesy, but there’s something about being able to sing a song after you’ve heard one chorus, the feeling it gives you – it’s just so positive,” he says. Of course this didn’t all happen overnight. Millar has played and toured as a guitarist for years in other bands, but it wasn’t until the pandemic that his love of the sunny-side-up sparked the idea to try his own hand at that perfect balance of catchy choruses and timeless melody. He wrote, recorded and released a debut taster EP entirely off his own back, and the response to the EP and ensuing live shows was nothing less than ecstatic. It soon caught the attention of Earache Records. The rest was history. “I’ve written, produced and played everything myself,” he says, “There isn’t really a scene for this, and that’s a good thing – it’s feelgood radio pop, and there’s a place for that now. Just listen to Taylor Swift or The 1975 – those big gated snare drums – it sounds so different from so much other pop music and that’s a great thing.” And from the Van Halen-loving fireworks of album-opener The Killing Floor to the synth-laden slickness of Deja Vu, it’s an album that wears its heart on its sleeve, and it makes no apology for where it comes from. “Fooling Yourself is quite heavy, but in my head I wanted it to be a rocked up version of ABBA. People probably think I’m mad, but I love ABBA! Dancing On My Own is quite heavily Huey Lewis and the News and Hall and Oates territory, and there’s a track called When The Summer Ends that channels all my Toto into one song. My music may be tongue-in-cheek, but it’s no joke. I can’t call it a guilty pleasure, because why would you feel guilty about that?” Artist Sam Millar Genre Rock And Pop Label Earache Buying Options 1LP , 1LP Coloured Vinyl Format 1LP Condition New Country UK Track Listings The Killing Floor Fooling Yourself Something I'll Regret When the Summer Ends Chardonnay Showbiz Forget You Dancing On My Own Deja Vu Neanderthal Man Meet Me Halfway Share this On Facebook On Twitter Via Email More from Rock And Pop View Product Quick View Special Interest Endure Rock And Pop | Rough Trade | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 4th November 2022 £19.00 - £22.00 Select options Reserve View Reservations Special Interest Endure £19.00 - £22.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Rough Trade Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 4th November 2022 Reserve View Reservations Read More Select options View Product Quick View Thievery Corporation Saudade – 10th Anniversary Rock And Pop | Primary Wave Music | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 22nd March 2024 £21.00 Add to basket Reserve View Reservations Thievery Corporation Saudade – 10th Anniversary £21.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Primary Wave Music SKU: 2755858967 Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 22nd March 2024 Reserve View Reservations Read More Add to basket View Product Quick View RVG Brain Worms Rock And Pop | Fire Records | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl, Includes Download Code Released 2nd June 2023 £21.00 - £23.00 Select options RVG Brain Worms £21.00 - £23.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Fire Records Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl, Includes Download Code Released Date: 2nd June 2023 Read More Select options View Product Quick View Alex Rex Paradise Rock And Pop | Neolithic Recordings | 1LP Released 30th July 2021 £16.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Alex Rex Paradise £16.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Neolithic Recordings SKU: NEOLITHIC0005-LP Formats: 1LP Released Date: 30th July 2021 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Salem King Night Rock And Pop | Iamsound | 1LP Released 28th January 2011 £15.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Salem King Night £15.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Iamsound SKU: LDS9216 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 28th January 2011 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Kelley Stoltz To Dreamers Rock And Pop | Sub Pop | 1LP Released 26th October 2010 £12.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Kelley Stoltz To Dreamers £12.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Sub Pop SKU: SP890 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 26th October 2010 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Beach Boys, The Pet Sounds (Stereo) UK Rock And Pop | UMC | 1LP, Includes Download Code Released 6th June 2016 £18.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Beach Boys, The Pet Sounds (Stereo) UK £18.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: UMC SKU: 4782229 Formats: 1LP, Includes Download Code Released Date: 6th June 2016 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Muse Simulation Theory Deluxe Film Box Set Rock And Pop | Torpack Ltd | Box Set Released 11th December 2020 £98.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Muse Simulation Theory Deluxe Film Box Set £98.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Torpack Ltd SKU: 0850018479158 Formats: Box Set Released Date: 11th December 2020 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Emily Kinney The Supporting Character Rock And Pop | Jullian Records | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 28th May 2021 £18.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Emily Kinney The Supporting Character £18.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Jullian Records SKU: JR25LP Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 28th May 2021 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Emma Kupa It Will Come Easier Rock And Pop | Fika Recordings | 1LP, Includes Download Code Released 18th September 2020 £16.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Emma Kupa It Will Come Easier £16.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Fika Recordings SKU: FIKA083LP Formats: 1LP, Includes Download Code Released Date: 18th September 2020 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders See more in Rock And Pop Start again
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