The Summer That Saved Me arrives as a project whose impact is far greater than the sum of its elements on paper, and the result is a deeply moving, thoroughly enthralling listening experience.
By Yinoluwa Olowofoyeku
Hillary Dennis Udanoh, known professionally as Odeal, is a British-Nigerian singer, songwriter, and producer whose nomadic upbringing across Germany, Nigeria, Spain, and the UK helped shape his distinct, genre-blurring sound. After relocating to London in 2017, he began building a reputation with a steady stream of releases that fused Afrobeats, neo-R&B, soul, and the left-of-center spirit of Alté.
He broke out with the viral success of the 2024 song, “Soh Soh”, which brought him wider attention and earned him two MOBO Awards and a BET nomination for Best New International Artiste. As a producer and vocalist, he has worked alongside artistes like Summer Walker and Victoria Monét, and as part of the roster at LVRN, the Atlanta-based label known for 6lack, and DVSN, and has established himself as one of the most fluid and forward-thinking voices in his lane.
His discography has followed an unorthodox and symbolic pattern, with a habit of releasing two EPs per year that often align with seasonal themes. This conceptual rhythm continues with The Summer That Saved Me, his new seven-track project.
The Summer That Saved Me comes after a milestone moment in his personal life: securing his British passport. It was recorded in makeshift home studios across Spain and Los Angeles, resulting in an intimate, breezy, and emotionally resonant collection that celebrates personal freedom, self-discovery, and sonic clarity.
Arriving after his critically acclaimed Lustropolis and OVMBR: Roses, The Summer That Saved Me captures a renewed sense of joy and purpose in his music, without sacrificing the emotional vulnerability and vocal precision that have long defined his work.
“Miami” opens the project on a romantic note, detailing a chance encounter that blossomed into attraction that lingered. Acoustic guitars strum steadily through the track like a soft breeze through the track’s early moments, as Odeal and guest artiste, Leon Thomas, weave a slow-burning tale of longing. Their vocal performances are arresting in their vulnerability, doused in harmonies and layered like overlapping waves. “This don’t gotta be the real thing/ As long as it feels like it/ Thinking ‘bout you when I landed in L.A/ It’s something that you ignited/ And I don’t wanna go home, I don’t want this night to end”. Just as the intimacy reaches its peak, the beat thumps in, low-end R&B drums ushering the ballad out with weight and finality.
“London Summers”, The Summer That Saved Me’s lead single, is a love letter to the collective joy of a London summer in full bloom. “It’s for certain, summer’s outside/ That’s why we’re dancin’/ Look at what we lost, baby/ Somewhere else, don’t wanna be nowhere else/ I got it all, all right here/ That’s my obsession with you”.
Amapiano-esque percussion creates a skipping undercurrent, riding on a four-to-the-floor bounce and dusty syncopation, but Odeal’s falsetto chorus and soulful ululations inject the track with his signature R&B essence.
“My Heart” is what happens when desire is at its peak and one surrenders to the leading of the heart. It is a song about letting go and following where feeling leads, even when clarity is nowhere to be found. “Don’t stop what you doing now, baby/ Tell them feelings, ‘Keep quiet’/ We both understand it already/ Nostalgia, I want it/ Ready to win you over/ Baby, I’m far from sober/ On the way up and you’re the drug”.
The song opens with the rustle of bongo drums and the slow shimmer of wah guitars, slowly pulling in bright pianos, cymbal ride hits and a flittering saxophone that curves its way through the mix, cementing the Jazzy-lounge feel of the song.
Odeal’s delivery is almost liquid here, with large stretches of non-lyrical vocalisations lending the verses a scat-like looseness. When the Afrobeats drums finally kick in, the bounce is elevated, and warm group vocals lead the mantra-like chorus, pulling back some layers as the song fades out.
“Obi’s Interlude” strips everything back. It is the emotional core of The Summer That Saved Me, the place where Odeal is no longer a performer or a suitor but simply a man with his heart laid bare. Referencing the name his mother calls him, Obi—which also means “heart”—he threads that double meaning into a song that aches with longing and tenderness. “Early in the morning, I be calling your name/ Pulling up on you in the heat of broad day/ When it’s all said and done, you’ll thank me someday/ When you’re done guarding your heart, I just want you to feel/ Safe, safe, safe, safe”.
His voice is pitched down and chopped, submerged under effects to good effect. The production is sparse, marked by somber guitars, rolling hi-hats and heavily syncopated drums. The songwriting is honest, reaching out to his intended lover with bared intentions, carried by heartfelt delivery that wails alongside the guitars to drive the emotion of the track home.
“Monster Boys”, produced by the duo of the same name (GMK and Genio), arrives like a cool gust after the heaviness of the interlude. Though it continues the chase from the previous track, here the mood lifts. There is playful confidence laced into every line. “In my medulla, rent-free, oh no, oh no/ Whole heap of trouble, if a nigga wan try you I’m gangster/ Hold it, see my devotion fit to kill a man down/ Bonnie, I’ll be your Clyde, let’s run to Casablanca/ Baby, you gotta show me that you’re really down”.
The instrumental struts in with funky kicks, plucky guitars, and twinkling piano accents, injecting Alte’s playful textures into a groovy Afrobeats framework. Odeal’s singing is sultry and flirty, the melodies rich with soul and high-note flourishes, until the halfway mark where he flips into a rapped staccato cadence that would feel familiar to fans of Alte mainstays. It is a moment of versatility, showing off both his pen and his performance instincts.
“Patience” is Odeal’s meditation on emotional restraint and learning to appreciate things that take time. He sings to someone he calls Delilah, a figure he’s long desired and now recognises must be pursued with care. “And then you’re patient/ That’s what you want (It’s what I want)/ That’s what you give (That’s what you give)/ That’s what I love (That’s what I love)/ And mi say Delilah o/ No be today, I dey eye your domot/ No be today, I dey eye what you got”.
The instrumental is deeply groovy, alive with rattling shakers, string accents, clacking triplets, and a thumping four-on-the-floor kick. The bassline bounces beneath Odeal’s voice, while brief saxophone runs mimic his melodies and complement his soaring inflections. The experience is tied together by differently weighted group vocals that fill out the song in choice moments.
“In The Chair” closes The Summer That Saved Me with reflective poise, touching on longing and distance. It captures the weight of a slowly unraveling connection, and the ache of still wanting despite it all. “Yeah, yeah, okay/ Need some TLC/ Phone on DND, check your Spotify/ It’s me, on me, on me/ Nothing’s guaranteed, but nothing/ ‘Cause I know her body to a T/ Sure as hell, we’ll be stuck here if you leave it all to me/ ‘Cause I can do this all week”.
The production is stripped and intimate, boasting a soft two-chord pad progression, a walking bass guitar, steady hi-hats and a spacious drum arrangement that leaves space to vocally miss his muse. He alternates between sung stretches with falsetto harmonies and an almost conversational rap cadence.
The final minute brings in cinematic strings and gentle synths, closing the album in a hush of feeling. There is no climax, no final explosion, just the quiet, lived-in realness of what it means to love, to try, and to sit with whatever is left behind.
Odeal’s ascension has been somewhat meteoric, but the moment has never been too big for him. He has stuck to his ideals, his style, his essence. That essence is rooted in R&B, shaped by his broad travels and a genre-spanning palette that never compromises his core.
Fitting for an R&B maverick, Odeal shines most in his vulnerability and his communication. This is very much the case on The Summer That Saved Me. This is not just a collection of songs but a portrait of clarity, confusion, feeling, and emotional truth pulled from a pivotal life moment.
The soul of his Soul is baked into the very grain of his lyrics and the breath of his vocal deliveries. His writing is gentle and honest, never flashy or overwrought, but direct and grounded in personal resonance. He finds fresh angles for well-worn themes, and his choices feel autobiographical, avoiding cliché not by innovation alone but by anchoring every line in lived experience.
As a singer, Odeal is quite impressive. He is frequently found floating in falsetto, gliding through head-voice runs with ease. Yet his range is broad, dipping into warm baritone when the emotion requires weight. His control is unforced, his tone airy and expressive, and his delivery adapts from track to track. Catchy Afro-Pop when it serves the groove, heartfelt soul when it is time to ache. He dabbles in the versatile but never strays from his lane, and the lane is paved with excellence.
Also, his use of group vocal arrangements is worthy of study. Sometimes they act as a choir rising beside him. Other times they serve as echoes, as call-and-response, as atmospheric shadows of what he just sang. It is evident that the choices informing the assembly of The Summer That Saved Me were rooted in expressive rather than technical, though the technical ability is quietly evident.
That expressive singing is given full centre stage on The Summer That Saved Me, helped by spacious energetic production that knows when to get out of the way. The drums often offer substantial rhythm and bounce, but the melodic elements are stripped down to make space for him to soar. Even when the prominent saxophones arrive, they do not compete. They accent. They lift. They play their part.
In all, The Summer That Saved Me arrives as a project whose impact is far greater than the sum of its elements on paper, and the result is a deeply moving, thoroughly enthralling listening experience. Odeal once said he hoped the project could save someone too, or at the very least, soundtrack their healing. From another artiste, that sentiment might have felt like branding.
From Odeal, it might turn out to be true. Not because of what he hoped, but because of what he made. As he continues to grow into this new level of stardom, it’s pleasurable to know that more and more people will now be touched by the work of this musical maestro.
Lyricism – 1.6
Tracklisting – 1.4
Sound Engineering – 1.6
Vocalisation – 1.7
Listening Experience – 1.5
Rating – 7.9/10
Yinoluwa “Yinoluu” Olowofoyeku is a multi-disciplinary artist and creative who finds expression in various media. His music can be found across all platforms and he welcomes interaction on his social media @Yinoluu.