Embrace

Formed in Santa Cruz and now based in San Francisco, the intense sextet of Sleepy Sun release their breathtaking debut album, Embrace. Whether droning madly, spiraling into cascades of infinitely-echoing vocals or kicking back with their blissed-out take on classic Americana rock, Sleepy Sun are a band that has made many sit up and take immediate notice. Recorded in Vancouver, British Columbia, in January 2008, the album embodies the quintessential sound of West Coast psychedelia updated for the late noughties. "Golden Artifact" was conceived in the band's Santa Cruz living room, nicknamed The Dungeon for its low ceilings, low lighting, and various smells, and sounds like a dark incantation, "Lord" is a beautiful, melancholy, shuffling piano-tinged ballad, warmed by the light of the sun, and "New Age" harkens Brightblack Morning Light's hazy harmonies, ending with a thunderous freakout, written after watching every Hellraiser and Jim Henson film in succession. Comprised of Brian Tice (drums), Jack Allen (bass), Rachael Williams (vocals, haberdashery & interpretive dancing) Bret Constantino (vocals and harmonica), Evan Reiss (guitars) and Matt Holliman (guitars), the band met in the counter-cultural hub city of Santa Cruz, California, citing pizza, horticulture, and Neil Percival Young as common interests. Drawing musical inspiration from Black Sabbath, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Can and Creation Records, they forged their sound in intense jam-sessions, as heavy and as beautiful as redwoods meeting the ocean.