The Bamboos – “Hello Sunshine”

Oh, there's a lot to love here. First of all, Sugar on Top is an excellent album title. And I love an Australian soul band delivering a sun-drenched little escape just as we're preparing to surrender another hour of daylight and start arguing with the thermostat. November is late spring in Australia, with summer arriving next month, which means The Bamboos are practically warming up the barbecue while the rest of us are locating our winter coats. Personally, I've had enough of summer. The mosquitoes in the South have spent the last several months treating me like an all-inclusive resort, and I would welcome their permanent retirement. But “Hello Sunshine” makes a persuasive case for extending the season, provided nobody invites the insects.

The song opens Sugar on Top, the band's twelfth studio album, with the easy pleasure of a jam session that's somehow become SPF-proof. There's an irresistible looseness to the playing, the kind that suggests everyone involved has forgotten about the clock and is enjoying themselves enormously. Kylie Auldist, Rita Satch, and Kate Ferguson share vocal duties, their voices overlapping in a blissed-out chorus of elongated greetings, oohs, and ahhs. Half the words disappear into the arrangement, and I couldn't care less. The singing becomes another instrument, passing little bursts of happiness around the room while the band keeps everything moving. It's a song that understands the value of an excellent afternoon with absolutely nowhere to be.

The Bamboos have been making music for more than two decades, evolving from Melbourne's deep-funk scene into a group with an increasingly adventurous approach to soul, pop, and everything that happens between them. Founder Lance Ferguson and the band recorded Sugar on Top in Launceston, Tasmania, with longtime collaborator John Castle, surrounded by scenery Ferguson has described as misty and magical. Which makes the sunshine pouring out of this opening track even more entertaining. They must have brought the sunshine in their luggage. The accompanying “Hello Sunshine” video, directed by Rick Clifford with colorful, psychedelic visuals by GGMcG, leans into that same cheerful excess. It's a fitting introduction to an album that seems determined to put its title into practice.

And I appreciate the timing. We've spent enough of the year taking ourselves seriously, watching the daylight disappear, and pretending we're excited about layering. The Bamboos have arrived with a little musical vitamin D and an invitation to enjoy ourselves. I remain firmly opposed to mosquitoes, humidity, and anything that requires applying sunscreen more than once, but I'll happily make an exception for this particular Australian summer. Just turn it up and leave the screen door closed.