Should Be Famous: Sunnybrook

Should Be Famous: Sunnybrook

Track Review: Sunnybrook
Just came across Sunnybrook, a one man operation from Paul North of Denton, Tx via the chronicle of all things Texan, GorillavsBear. Here's what they had to say:

[North] recently sent over his just-completed debut EP, Water Me Glow. After a handful of listens, the record delivers on all the lofty promise of "Waving Hands," Sunnybrook's glowing, '70s-leaning, Sigur Ros-meets-Seven Swans campfire folk-pop gem. Here's the new album version of that one, and another Water Me Glow standout, the swelling, sentimental "Tiger Bite"

Mp3 - "Waving Hands" certainly sounds Seven Swans-y at least in instrumentation whereas the vocals are more akin to Jonsi's ethereal falsetto. And similarly to each of these other artists, the arrangements are intricately (and successfully) layered, creating a palette of music from which your ears can feast upon at any given moment. There are cutesy elements like handclaps and multiple part harmonies (which recalls Woods, perhaps) but instead of feeling near and intimate like Mr. Stevens' album, the track consistently escalates in scope (like a Sigur Ros composition, maybe?) ending in a slight downward arc, slowly shedding layers of instrumentation.

Mp3 - "Tiger Bite" begins with a sleepy vocal line curling up in a bed of slowly strummed guitar chords. Again the composition builds towards an epic scale, adding violin, cymbal rushes, and multiple vocal harmonies part way through the track. Yet, despite the scale of the music the song never gives itself up to bliss. Instead the entirety of the song maintains a quiet intensity. It reminds me of the way Jonsi looks when he sings. It's like the sheer immensity of space the music suggests demands reflection, like being the only human for hundreds of miles and coming across the Grand Canyon. This song could make me cry. I don't think I can say any more.