Here Come the Suns
Sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes you get your hands on a record that hasn’t a single throwaway song on it and this is precisely the good fortune that came to pass with The Suns’ Warmth.
It’s an incredibly gorgeous compilation of eleven original tracks penned by Liverpool lads, Dave Lloyd (lead vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals, programming and percussion – phew!). Together with his band mates Markus Mullholland (electric and acoustic bass, backing vocals, Paul Fleming (melodica), Colin Smith (additional drums) and Nick Lloyd (dulcimer) a remarkable collection of songs which stand on their own as musical masterpieces are created.
Now I don’t know if Dave, Markus and their buddies are pagan, but there are several references to soul searching, past lives, looking into mirrors, circles that shall never be broken, taking guidance from the force, magic dreams and tons of sun worshipping. For example the CD opener Soul Desert with its heavy vibrating bass line ushers you into a meditative examination of your own core with a soft psychedelic melody that spirals and twists with the help of Dave’s mesmerizing vocal.
Flashback to the scene in The Doors when the band heads out to the desert, takes LSD and waits for the doors of perception to open, Soul Desert is a perfect song for that moment.
It’s asking for enlightenment set to music, “Help me get my feet out of the past, help me see the sand within the glass, help me see the distance in the sand, held me seek good fortune in my handâÂ?¦and I feel like a soul desert.”
I live in California, I surf (I lie), I love acoustic guitars and I’m dying to buy a set of bongos so it mustn’t surprise you that I’m very taken with They Came For Waves because it moves like water, swelling and crashing into the depths of your spirit, it’s an amazing, spiritual mantra for sun worshippers and ocean dwellers. “They worship the sun and the rise and swellâÂ?¦taping the source taking their guidance from the forceâÂ?¦the circle remains, never to be brokenâÂ?¦”
I think radio would devour Wonder What and would propel The Suns into orbit. Accessible in its melodic assembly, Dave’s vocals are crisp and wrapped around clever programming, echo and effect which are fingerprints found consistently throughout Warmth yet never interfere with the splendor and honesty of each song. Another common thread is the excellent musicianship of the band, what you have on Warmth are lyrics that emerge as narratives from the heart of a poet surrounded in superb composition and melody.
Don’t know if it was intentional or not but I really like the line in It Just Is that sends me back to a song from The Church’s Of Skins and Heart: “âÂ?¦is this where you live?” More lovely visions of the sun and soul set to acoustic guitar and achingly beautiful vocals.
Feel Good Today, Summer’s Gone and Shooting for the Moon are stunning in their differences. Feel Good Today is straightforward and exists in a world of strumming acoustic guitars and haunting melodica. Summer’s Gone begins with a bare bones stripped
down effect then surges into a multi-layered tune that crashes head on into Shooting for the Moon, the longest of the songs on Warmth. Shooting for the Moon is a legend in song that transports you into an enthralling personal journey within or sends you spiraling into the night sky to seek out the mysteries hidden there all courtesy of some really tasty guitar work reminiscent of early Church workings, think Seance. Wait for the very last bit on Shooting for the Moon, you’ll hear some lovely familiar chords from The Suns’ Beautiful Gold, taken from their Fearless EP. At this point don’t take the headphones off, or go fetch them if you haven’t been wearing them. There are definite headphone indulging moments waiting for you deep inside track eleven.
A line from It Just Is states, “Smiled is an anagram of misled”. You won’t be in this case, The Suns and their wonderful Warmth offer up one thousand rhythmical smiles. Believe it!
For more information on the Suns please go to www.thesuns.co.uk/
