The Song Forlorn is the second album by Sunyears who are, the solo project of Peter Moren from Peter Bjorn & John, who I last wrote about as the producer of the excellent Strawberries album by Robert Forster that came out a couple of months ago. The Song Forlorn was recorded with a cast of his favourite musical people including Lisa Hannigan, De Clair, Sam Genders, Madison Cunningham and Nicole Atkins.
The album opens with Where Are We? A short intro to the album, that only asks the question musically, to which the answer is indie pop with a slight psychedelic edge. Dark Eyes is light indie pop for someone who has dark panda eyes and never looks to be on the right side of things, things only look up when the guitar solo gets going. blowing away all the bad sad feelings.
Last Night On The Mountain (FT Lisa Hannigan and Sam Genders) this is gently evocative and rather pretty song, soars in places, the vocalists blend and harmonize together, before a wonderfully downbeat violin bridges the verses, while they are waiting for dawn and some light in all the darkness.
Your Dad Was Sad is slow thoughtful reflections on why Your Dad might be Sad, the keyboards add to a sense of desolation and emptiness, a void that needs filling, only he doesn't quite know how to get past the sorrow that makes you even sadder.
(Going To A Cruel) Country is more of a college rocker on a subject that we can all recognise, of wanting, or actually going to a country that may seem cruel from the outside, and possibly also inside, but it's somewhere that a lot of people know and love you, so you go anyway, the squally guitar solo in a very Crazy horse style is rather choice, this sounds like a good sing along single to me.
If You Were To Ask (Ft De Clair) is a very down at heart duet, with sparse piano and violin depicting the parting pain and sorrow, they have no regrets but they are moving on.
Spanner in the Works has a country folk feel for someone who is looking for some change, a new way to exist, what will impress him most, what will be his next destination, in the life of a typical peripatetic musician.
The Body (FT Nicole Atkins) is a sultry, slow dancing, song of love and intrigue, that builds and explodes in the chorus, can they heal each other's bodies from deep within. This feels sensual with them both hoping to make it work together.
Swamp Mob is a slow dive into that Swamp the carefully picked guitar and the odd interjection of the song title, make this sound like a sort of odd interlude song. The album closes with The Song Forlorn (FT Madison Cunningham) a slow lullaby for the darkness that seems ever present, no matter how human you are, you still feel possessed by demons, can you sing and play them away.
Find out more at https://sun-years.bandcamp.com/album/the-song-forlorn https://www.facebook.com/SunYearsSongs https://bio.to/SunYears https://its-villa.myshopify.com/products/sunyears-the-song-forlorn-cd
