Vacationer - “Treat”

SXSW 2020 - OEB Score: 7; Popularity Index: 7

Pairs Well With…Tanlines, Beach House, St. Lucia

Breezy synth pop band Vacationer had a DJ set lined up for SXSW 2020, an appropriate gig supporting their latest record Wavelengths, a collection of instrumental cuts that highlight the Philadelphia-based artists’ trip hop beats and lush, synth sound-strokes. A record that is more seamless than a collection cut samples, Wavelengths has a mood that is both hazy cool and complex enough to stand on its own, letting in threads of jazz, pop, and downtempo dance music to inform the album’s melodies and groove. Vacationer do an excellent job bridging old-school influences and futurist goals, stretching while still providing a comfortable soundtrack throughout. (Kevin McStravick)

2013 Review: Synth pop artists Vacationer strike a cool, down tempo vibe on 2012’s debut, Gone.  There’s a variety of influences at play here, genre hopping everywhere from smooth R&B to tribal percussion to upbeat, electronic pop.  After mixing these ingredients together, Vacationer tops their songs with a dreamlike haze.  The hypnotic tones take a few minutes to get into, but then Gone begins to work as a complete piece, patiently ebbing and flowing into different fields of study.  The apex of their sound is found on key track “Good As New”, using samples as a hip hop beat-maker would, but applying it to a breezy and catchy indie pop song.