As the cold hands of winter finally begin to loosen their grip on our social lives,the debut album Illumination from Melbourne’s Miami Horror is a whisper of an electric summer to come. In fact, this release has the “season defining” potential wielded by MGMT back in 2008 with their anthem rich Oracular Spectacular.

Tracks like ‘I Look to You’, ‘Holidays’ and ‘Summersun’ are waiting, poised to populate our summer airwaves like a form of humidity – an airy, synth-heavy presence that begs you to get out of the house.

Their sound may captivate the effortless optimism of the sun soaked season, but the album itself was the result of patience and hard work. It was the culmination of over two years of touring, writing and producing, primarily by the band’s founding member Ben Plant.

The album’s vibe is all fun but the process that has resulted in this immaculately produced record was decidedly serious. Plant, along with other band members Josh Moriarty, Aaron Shanahan and Daniel Whitechurch, has worked hard over the last few years to perfect a sound that is at once lo-fi and full-bodied. Despite sounding incredibly slick, the record was engineered and produced from Plant’s bedroom studio and at times has a home made fuzzy warmth.

A golden thread of positivity unites all the songs on Illumination despite the breathtaking array of genres the album takes in. Chillwave, disco, pop and psychedelic electronic all ebb and flow effortlessly between the shores of the albums lush arrangements. As one of the most exciting Australian releases in a long while, Illuminations is glowing with exciting, danceable and immaculate electro-pop.

Megan Gordon