Summers Sons — Dare To Wonder (2025) — South London in the Sun
Nice one this one
By Rafi Mercer
Some albums feel expensive. Some feel complicated. Some just feel good to live with.
Dare To Wonder is the third kind.
Warm air. Open windows. South London with the sun finally out again.
Summers Sons have always understood something important: not every album needs to fight for attention. Sometimes music works better when it settles into the room naturally. That is what this record does — jazz loops and soft drums, basslines with space around them, words that sound lived-in instead of performed.
You can hear the city inside it too. Not central London, not luxury London. Real South London. Trains moving in the distance. People outside cafés. Late afternoon light over brick buildings. Friends sitting in parks with music playing quietly nearby. The duo — two brothers, surname Summers, Turt on vocals and Slim on production — recorded at RTB Studios in South Bermondsey, and the postcode is audible. Not as a gimmick, but as a feeling.
The production never rushes, and that is the strength of it. Modern music often sounds stressed — built for clips and fast reactions. This record sounds patient. It trusts you to stay with it, and that confidence gives the album genuine weight.
There are echoes of Nujabes, old jazz rap records, and the softer side of UK underground hip-hop. But it never feels like nostalgia for its own sake. It feels current because the emotion is real. Turt has spoken about the album as a celebration — three previous records dealing with grief, parenthood, epilepsy — and this one made in a different spirit entirely. That shift registers. The warmth here is not fake positivity or motivational quotes. It is the sound of people who made it through something and decided, on the other side, to stay open.
Tracks drift past like conversations. A line catches you. A loop stays in your head. The album gets stronger the longer you live with it — which is exactly the quality that makes certain records sit well in listening bar culture. The rooms we cover in our London guide — Spiritland, Space Talk, 77 — are built for records like this. Music that rewards a room designed around it.
This is music for walking home. Music for making coffee. Music for sitting on balconies in the evening. Music for slowing your breathing down after a long day.
The title matters too. Dare To Wonder. In 2025 that almost feels rebellious — to stay open, to stay curious, to not become completely cynical about everything. That idea sits underneath the whole album. It does not try to overpower your life. It moves alongside it.
Quick Questions
What does the album sound like?
Warm jazz rap with soulful production, reflective lyrics, and relaxed South London energy. Turt on vocals, Slim on production — two brothers who have been doing this since 2018 and sound more assured than ever.
What makes it good?
The pacing. Nothing feels forced. The album trusts atmosphere and small details, and rewards patience in the way that streaming has trained people not to give it.
Best moment?
The feeling the record creates as a whole. It sounds even better in the evening.
Rafi Mercer writes about the spaces where music matters. For more stories from Tracks & Tales, subscribe, or click here to read more.
Every month, The Listening Club gathers around the world. Join here.
