So convincing an evocation of a particular sort of summer is ‘Summertown’ that its co-creator Deborah Conway wasn’t in the least offended when I failed to recognise her in store out of her togs winter-wrapped yesterday. The suggestion that she bribed me for this review, however, wasn’t so welcome. ‘I don’t need to bribe you’ she said ; ‘just listen.’ Her confidence isn’t misplaced. “Summertown” is a set of sandy devotional songs borne on a cresting wave of influences from Jimmy Webb to Carole King that will have you reaching for the factor thirty and revelling in some puberty blue skies. Gathering around the crackling driftwood are Toni Collette (not pretending to be a woman), Paul Kelly (not pretending to be Mark Knopfler) and moonlighting John Butler trioists (not pretending to be Innocent Criminals). Bursting with bleached blonde bone dry ballads and giggly just-in-loves, Summertown is a paean to stolen kisses and holiday hickeys -no grown-up concerns about skin cancer and broken hearts here – after all, they made this while their parents were out. A slip slop slap-up success that does what pop music should – reminds us that love makes adolescents of us all.

Mark Luffman is from Readings Malvern