“Growing up in a family where music was always in the background, I soaked up more than a handful of influences ranging from soul, pop, rock, and hip-hop,” 

You actually hear that influence across PST89, a project that sounds like a polished version of someone mixing their favourite sounds together from their stacks of tapes and vinyl. There are callbacks to classic jams (the “Juicy Fruit” break on “Less Mondays, More Summer”), samples from more modern joints (the Fabolous bit at the end of “Summer Happiness”), and other nostalgic Easter eggs.

There’s also a surprising amount of emotion running through the four tracks on here. While the overall theme is hope, Teck-Zilla acknowledges that sometimes you can only reach joy by getting through harder times. So while the aptly titled “Summer Happiness” closes the EP on an upbeat note, there are solemn hints beneath the surface of joints like “1000 Lonely Summers” and “Less Mondays, More Summer.” But even then, there remains that strong feeling of optimism, that things will indeed get better.

While PST89 may not necessarily solve all the world’s issues, it is a wonderfully bright spot that we all could use—especially now. And the best part is that it arrives with the promise of more, similarly themed material from the producer. Yes, the sequel to Teck-Zilla’s stellar 2018 project, SummerZilla, is coming soon.