Stockholm-based acoustic singer-songwriters Flora Cash have a very 21st Century story. Cole Randall and Shpresa Lleshaj started sending each other their music over Soundcloud in 2012 and now, four years later they’re married and releasing their debut record, Can Summer Love Last Forever? premiering below. Who needs Tinder or Raya? Soundcloud can be so much more than a music platform!Randall and Lleshaj’s relationship is the core of the record’s subject matter, allowing the listener into their life together as they pick it apart and analyze its pieces. Take "Mezmer" which is all about those sacred special moments when you're first getting to really know someone. Or as they put it: "The phase where you begin to peel back some of the layers and realize, Oh, that’s how you handle arguments? You walk away? You disappear?' But it can be anything… it’s about discovering what’s left after the puppy love begins to wane."It’s a sweet, carefully constructed collection, wrapped up in harmony and memory, pushed forward by the duo’s careful attention to detail. There's a wistful prettiness to their tunes—in the vein of Kings of Convenience or even early Fleet Foxes."We wanted this record to feel full and well crafted but clean and uncluttered at the same time," they explain. "Some of the subject matter is quite heavy and dark but we wanted to contrast some of that darkness with rays and glimmers of lightness in the production. Like, if the subject matter was a heavy blanket, the production is a cool breeze that keeps you from getting too hot."But basically—we want people to know that they’re listening to something that's real and born out of the truth of our actual lives. We want this to feel personal and spark feelings and memories of very specific moments; good or bad."The overarching inspiration for Can Summer Love Last Forever? is the feeling of an intense love and passion that comes suddenly, out of nowhere and seems to have a very real and very near expiration date. The album explores the blissful beginning and usually inevitable decline of summer love. It also asks an honest question of our own love; a love that in the most tangible way began in the summer of 2012, when we finally met each other in person: 'Can Summer Love Last Forever?'"We certainly hope so. Drift away and fall for them below.
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