When you are writing music reviews, you never know what exciting and innovative new music is going to come through next, it’s part of the reason we love it. Today’s review of ‘Sun King Eternal Peace’ by The Sun King is both of these things and we feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to review it.
The Sun King are labelled as ‘Experimental Vocal Music’ this is pretty accurate in it’s basic description of genre but they are so so much more. It has been written by the extremely talented Malachi Navi Wahy and recorded, mixed and mastered by the equally brilliant Speedy Rodriguez. The album was released on 11th June and is their second album to date.
The opening track ‘Post Falsehood’ starts with a single, solo djembe. it is an unusual opening but this is an unusual album so it suits the style perfectly. The djembe is followed by vocals, very much singing their own thing. They do not follow the path of the djembe but they weave in and out, working beautifully in harmony with them.
We also very much enjoyed, ‘What’s Pot’, it is humorous and the sense of humour shines through. This sense of humour is set to a backdrop of (again) excellent harmonies which only adds to it’s charm. ‘6 O’clock & Never Late’ is another favourite of ours. It has a gospel, biblical feel with funky voices and drums very low in the mix to let the voices shine. ‘Get It Darling’ had us singing along with all of the parts, wonderful music!
Throughout the entire album there is very little instrumentation. The melody, rhythm and texture are all reliant upon the vocals. They have a lot of work to do to cover these areas but manage it seamlessly and it really is a musical feast to listen to. The album needs to be heard many times for the brain to be able to process all of the intricate harmonies and nuances there are to be digested.
Although there are 27 tracks in total, they vary in length and each has their own unique character. With such little instrumentation backing this is very difficult to do but The Sun King are so naturally talented they make it feel seamless.
We must also mention the artwork which accompanies ‘Sun King Eternal Peace’. It matches and represents the music which it protects perfectly.
‘Sun King Eternal Peace’ by The Sun King is an innovative and inspirational piece of work. Want music to feed your soul? Check out this record today.
Reviewed by FVReviews June 2018
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