Somersault is the third studio album by American indie rock band Beach Fossils, released on June 2, 2017, and produced by frontman Dustin Payseur and Jonathan Rado.

Somersault produced five singles that are considered to be among the band's best-known songs, which include "This Year", "Saint Ivy", "Down The Line", "Tangerine", and "Social Jetlag".

The album received critical acclaim upon release, with many complimenting its bright tone, layered arrangements, and the more collaborative approach to songwriting within the band.

[4] This time out, Payseur involved the other members of the band in the writing process, with both bassist Jack Doyle Smith and guitarist Tommy Davidson contributing ideas.

[5] The songs speak to a more fluid, eclectic sound, filled with lush compositions formed by studio experiments and sampling of the band's own recordings.

A decision was also made to incorporate string and woodwind arrangements at various points throughout the album, giving it a larger and eclectic sound as compared to the more conventional four-piece band approach on earlier releases.

"On March 13, 2017, the band revealed the departure of drummer Tommy Gardner, who moved to Shanghai to pursue his interests in becoming a Buddhist monk.

In an interview with Adam Budofsky for Modern Drummer, Dustin Payseur said of Gardner's departure, "Tommy was talking about becoming a Buddhist monk and he went on this meditation retreat, so we weren’t sure what the future of him playing with us was going to be.

We were sitting there all in the room, staring over his shoulder, probably making him nervous, telling him to keep it like a drum machine, as minimal as possible, but then throw in fills when they feel right.

[5] In an Instagram post on June 5, 2019, celebrating the anniversary of the release of the album, Dustin Payseur said of the recording process, "We were sketching out ideas for years while on and off tour, working in “studios” in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Los Angeles and upstate NY... most of these not actually being real studios, but comfortable spaces where we set up our own gear and got to work.

[12] "Tangerine" is a bright, breezy, and carefully layered indie rock tune which features vocal contributions from Slowdive's Rachel Goswell on the song's chorus.

Memphis, Tennessee-based rapper Cities Aviv is featured rapping a spoken-word-like verse over a soft, atmospheric beat and smooth saxophone on the album's interlude "Rise".

Somersault also incorporates themes of social unrest and political observations as found on Payseur's love-letter to New York City's diversity, the baroque-pop track "Saint Ivy".

The designs and layout were screen printed on to white linen with red ink by Keegan Cooke and was then photographed by Rebekah Campbell.

Some of these artists include Wild Nothing, Mac Demarco, DIIV, Craft Spells, Jesse Ruins, Cleaners from Venus, Heavenly Beat, Chastity, Holograms and more.

The music video aims to pay homage to New York City artists, as it features an abundance of local dancers and a Brooklyn-based drag queen, Merrie Cherry.

"[25] Philip Cosores of Pitchfork awarded the album a score of 7.3/10 and wrote in a positive review, "Payseur doesn’t shy from the fact that he’s reaching for something more both lyrically and musically... Somersault is a huge leap for Beach Fossils and includes some of Dustin Payseur’s most nuanced songs to date..."[27] In a very positive review, Exclaim!

's Matt Yuyitung wrote "Where Clash the Truth seemed to hint at great potential for the band's growth, Somersault delivers thanks to more confident songwriting and a greater desire to move forward.

"[26] Aiden Ryan of The Skinny awarded the album four stars, and wrote "Somersault takes a bolder leap forward, taking tropes and palettes from 60s pop, grunge, and even country, and making bold play with strings and horns, piano and harpsichord, surprising effects, freer guitar and more assertive bass."

"[29] In a four-star review Rhian Daly of DIY complimented their growth in songwriting, "Their [previous] compositions were lush and soothing, but lacked variety.

He also went on to praise the album's collaborative sound, writing "The evident rise in experimentation is due, in part, to bringing Jack and Tommy into the songwriting process.

Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell brings a new dimension to the group’s layers on the shuffling, sweet 'Tangerine', while Memphis rapper Cities Aviv takes the lead on 'Rise'.

"[31] Paste Magazine critic Reed Strength wrote of the album, "Thanks to a rich sonic palette and more dynamic songwriting, they’ve turned in their best collection of jangly indie rock songs so far."

His delivery, still a stoned deadpan, doesn’t offer much gravitas to "Saint Ivy"’s blasé political observations or the paint by numbers disaffected hipster-isms of "Down the Line"[28] All personnel information found in the liner notes of the album.