Sleepy Sun's new album 'Maui Tears' finds them scaling new heights

Sleepy Sun's fourth album finds them in fine form

Ever since catching a brief but serendipitous snippet of
Embrace, Sleepy Sun’s sprawling psychedelic swamp rock debut, I must confess to an enduring love affair with them. Every album since and up to the imminent release of
Maui Tears, their fourth to date, has progressed from the one before to maintain the interest in a band who really should be playing bigger stages by now, but (and perhaps selfishly I write this) have maintained a career just that little bit below the mainstream, which is no bad thing, as mainstream in music is just another word for homogeny. And lets be honest, the mainstream can be pretty fucking boring. There’s a feel across
Maui Tears that perhaps Sleepy Sun’s songwriting has evolved and maybe they’re aiming for a bigger, more impacting sound, as demonstrated by the huge chords and wailing guitars that burst from nowhere in the Dead Confederate-esque ‘Everywhere Waltz’ or the whopping great riffs that dominate ‘1132’ and nod back to the heady grunge days of the glorious early nineties. This is all beautifully offset by the more mellow, introspective moments, such as the Pink Floyd inspired ‘Slowdown’ and the prog-rock (including obligatory flute) of epic ten minute title track album closer.
Maui Tears is a fine record, and following on from Mogwai’s recent
Rave Tapes, is perhaps the second great record of the year to date. Suffice to say, 2014 is thus far shaping up rather well. Fingers crossed for some Uk dates soon, as live it’s hard not to imagine
Maui Tears being utterly enthralling on yet another level. There’s something totally captivating about Sleepy Sun, and even though we’re only in January, this is sure to make more than a few end of year lists come December. Top stuff. 9/10
www.sleepysun.net With thanks to Dana

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