Doodling on guitars whilst never losing focus of the actual song. That is the common ground on which Still Trees and Still Trees’ Simon Graupner aka Shelter Boy base their music. Under his new alias Simon has built a shelter for his own songs, which shine in a quite different light than the pompous Still Trees indie-rock. On his first release under this name Simon presents a sound like Saturday afternoon sunlight that blissfully shines through the four songs on the first EP. A sound that invites you to laze about. It’s worthwhile listening closely though. The clear vocals follow a simple melody and are entangled in a web of very sophisticated guitar patterns. There is no distortion in Shelter Boy’s home, it is clean but not sterile. Everything sounds like it’s where it belongs. The guitar is clearly in the foreground but leaves enough space for the rhythm section to groove along. Everything is arranged casually without any part of it being arbitrary.

Mac Demarco is quite an obvious influence but so are the British bands that have previously had an impact on the choruses of Shelter Boy’s main band Still Trees. The influence is clearly audible without the direction being predefined or anything being copied. Additionally Shelter Boy’s Music is emotionally flexible: it is just as good on a rainy day when you don’t feel like going out as it is on a sunny day in the park. When forced to describe his own sound Simon would say it is dreampop. If you need a label, that would be fitting. The the fizzy guitar lines sparkle in one moment only to ascend to a chorus that bid to sing along but don’t necessarily provoke it. A sound to raise your glass to with friends of well thought out pop music, only to carry on doing so all night. When you wake up slightly hungover the next morning Shelter Boy will still be the right soundtrack for your day.