Monday 3 November 2014

Southern Sunrise E.P. - 'Feels Like Home'



Southern Sunrise, 'Closer'


Info: Southern Sunrise are a English-Dutch four-piece who formed in Brighton in 2012 when lead singer Shonagh Macleod and guitarist Arjan Pieters met in university and decided to start the band, named after their fondness for the sunny south coast city. Bassist Daan Gooren and keyboardist Remco (great name!) Gerritsen were added to the roster shortly afterwards. In 2013 they released their debut E.P., Brighton, and at the end of September this year they released Feels Like Sunshine. The new E.P. is a blend of folk-pop with strong strands of country (see above single 'Closer'), and blues. The band are influenced by Laura Marling, Fleet Foxes and Noah & The Whale, although I think they are certainly of a far sunnier disposition than their reference points. My favourite track on the E.P. is opener 'Red Sun Calling', with it's Screamadelica intro, and it's smooth lazy-day feel, it also reminds me quite a bit of Paolo Nutini in many ways, Shonagh and Paolo could do a killer duet I reckon. 'Elspeth' is infectiously happy, and has an energetic samba vibe that, along with the ukulele playing, is a lot of fun. To finish off a nice mix of sounds along comes the E.P.'s title track, 'Feels Like Home', here Southern Sunrise get more rootsy and strip everything down, and it's a beautiful short track that is pretty timeless. I've also listened to the Brighton E.P. and it would be hard to not see Southern Sunrise growing in popularity following a full-length album release.



Southern Sunrise, 'Feels Like Home'


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