Brant Buckley – Chicago Summer
Christmas has a way of pulling us into reflection. It’s the season when we naturally look back — at where we were, who we loved, and the moments that quietly shaped us. But that kind of reflection doesn’t belong to December alone. Sometimes it arrives unexpectedly, even in the middle of summer. In that spirit, this feels like a fitting Christmas in July moment — a pause to revisit a small body of work that captured a season, a city, and a feeling that only revealed its full meaning years later.
Released in 2015, Chicago Summer is a three-song EP written during a formative stretch of Buckley’s time living in the city. The songs came easily, almost effortlessly, shaped by long days near Lake Michigan, quiet observation, and an ongoing search for connection. Each track reflects a different emotional state — longing, discovery, and ultimately commitment — while remaining grounded in a specific place and moment. What began as songs about summer would eventually take on deeper significance. Revisiting Chicago Summer now feels less like looking back at a release and more like tracing how creative work evolves alongside life itself. These songs were never written with an agenda or season in mind — they simply arrived when they needed to. And much like the holidays invite us to reflect on love, memory, and permanence, this EP offers a quiet reminder that some music isn’t tied to a moment on the calendar, but to the way moments unfold over time.
Chicago Summer
“Chicago Summer” opens the EP with a heavy kick drum and snare, grounding the track before a two-string guitar riff leads into warm, open chords. The song closes with a subtle blues turnaround before cycling back, giving it a natural, almost circular feel —like a day spent along the lake that never quite wants to end.
Buckley’s vocal is clear and unforced, carrying the same calm clarity as Lake Michigan on a still summer morning. There’s a distinct Chicagoland atmosphere throughout — unpolished, honest, and spacious. The guitar rings like a bell across the track, bright but restrained, never crowding the song’s emotional center.
Written during long stretches of fishing and quiet observation by the lake, the song reflects both physical space and inner searching. Beneath the relaxed groove, Chicago Summer is ultimately about the pursuit of love — the kind that feels just out of reach but worth waiting for. Buckley’s falsetto in the chorus captures that feeling perfectly, floating above the rhythm and saying everything that doesn’t need to be spelled out.
Summer Girl
“Summer Girl” follows naturally after Chicago Summer, propelled by a quick-paced drum beat and an open guitar tuning — a unique tuning Buckley created specifically for the song. The track continues the EP’s theme of searching and longing for soul connection, but with a noticeably brighter emotional tone. Buckley’s voice feels more open here, shaped by his time living in Chicago, carrying a sense of optimism and lightness that runs throughout the song. When the chorus arrives, his voice lifts fully into falsetto, reinforcing the feeling of yearning that defines the track. Buckley has often recalled writing the songs for Chicago Summer as an easy, almost magical process, where the music seemed to arrive without force, and Summer Girl captures that spirit vividly. The lyrics unfold like a snapshot of a fleeting summer encounter — “down on the street, she’s swimming through Lakeview East, like calm water in the sky, her green blue rainbow flies, sounding her siren, she lures with her voice, she takes off her glasses and looks me in the eye” — grounding the song in a specific place while preserving the dreamlike quality of a moment that feels both intimate and just out of reach.
Mira’s Song
“Mira’s Song” was written for Buckley’s cousin, Mira, as a wedding gift — a deeply personal piece created for a specific moment in time. He was fortunate enough to perform the song live at her wedding at the Boulder Country Club in Colorado allowing it to exist first in the setting it was meant for: a room filled with family, love, and permanence. The original recording is bright, light, and airy, mirroring the emotional openness of the occasion. Stripped down to acoustic guitar and vocal, the song carries a quiet intimacy, letting melody and sentiment lead without excess. It’s an emotional and moving love song, understated in its delivery but resonant in its intention. Years later, Buckley revisited the song, re-recording it with a live string quartet and retitling it “Wedding Love.” While the arrangement expanded, the heart of the song remained unchanged — a reflection of how certain pieces of music grow and evolve over time yet stay rooted in the moment that inspired them.
