San Tropez Curate Memory and Noise on Museum of Modern History
Brighton’s San Tropez return with Museum of Modern History, released on February 27, 2026 — their second full-length album and a confident step forward from 2023’s Maybe Tomorrow. Rooted in indie pop, dreampop, and shoegaze, the record refines their hazy aesthetic into something more expansive, reflective, and sonically assured.
Formed around the songwriting of Ralph Nicastro, San Tropez grew from a personal project into a fully realised band. The current lineup — Albie Connelly on guitars and backing vocals, Frank Bridges on bass, Andy Fountas on drums, and Phil Pirri on keys — gives Nicastro’s compositions depth and movement, transforming inward sketches into widescreen soundscapes.
If their debut established the blueprint, Museum of Modern History deepens the architecture. Guitars bloom in soft distortion, layered with care rather than excess. The influence of Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine is present in the shimmering textures and enveloping atmospheres, yet San Tropez avoid pure nostalgia. Their sound feels contemporary, polished but not sterile, melancholic but not static.
The album’s title hints at its thematic terrain. Museum of Modern History navigates memory in the digital age — fragments of media, cultural artefacts, half-remembered images flickering like exhibits behind glass. There is a sense of looking backward while standing firmly in the present. Songs unfold like curated rooms, each exploring how personal memory intersects with shared cultural noise.
Sonically, the record balances softness and propulsion. Pirri’s keyboards add subtle glow beneath the guitar wash, while the rhythm section keeps everything grounded. Bridges’ bass provides warmth and forward motion, and Fountas’ drumming is precise yet understated, allowing tracks to breathe and expand organically.
There is a noticeable growth in confidence here. Where earlier material leaned more heavily into pure atmosphere, Museum of Modern History introduces sharper melodic contours. Choruses feel more defined, hooks emerge more clearly from the haze. The dreaminess remains, but it is anchored by structure.
Emotionally, the album carries a quiet ache. It is nostalgic without being sentimental, reflective without drifting into detachment. San Tropez seem interested in how the past lingers — not as something fixed, but as something refracted through contemporary experience.
As Brighton continues to nurture a vibrant alternative scene, San Tropez carve out a space that feels both local and expansive. Their music carries the seaside melancholy often associated with the city, yet it stretches outward into broader shoegaze and dreampop traditions.
With Museum of Modern History, San Tropez consolidate their identity. It is an album that feels carefully assembled, textured and luminous, balancing homage and evolution. A record that treats sound like light filtered through memory — soft at the edges, but impossible to ignore once it settles.
© Thusblog
