Sunnsetter: The Whole World That Turns Around Itself
Sunnsetter - The Whole World That Turns Around Itself (Paper Bag Records): Sunnsetter is the project of Andrew McLeod, an accomplished and prolific multi-instrumentalist, composer,
By Kerry Doole
Sunnsetter - The Whole World That Turns Around Itself (Paper Bag Records): Sunnsetter is the project of Andrew McLeod, an accomplished and prolific multi-instrumentalist, composer, and mixing engineer. Last week they released a debut album, The best that I can be., and this focus track shows why the album is grabbing attention.
In a label press release, McLeod states that "this is the track that ultimately helped to shape the entire record. This track is one of the first things I created when my partner and I moved into our new house in rural Norfolk County. I found myself realizing there was an album coming together; I had about 20+ pieces of music to work from and I was trying to pare down but also create more tracks that really captured the mood of how I was feeling at the time.
"After finishing this track, I remember thinking to myself that I had found a more central mood for this album as a whole and ended up scrapping a bunch of the songs I had previously recorded and almost starting from scratch.”
The strictly instrumental composition features droning and hazy guitars, and it gradually builds in intensity. It doesn't really go anywhere, but it brings you to an intersection of ambient and shoegaze styles that lovers of those genres will appreciate. McLeod wrote, produced, recorded and mixed the track.
Discussing his new album further, he observes that "These songs are something I have been working towards for the better part of three years. During this time, I have grieved the loss of a close friend/bandmate and continuously dealt with my journey of sobriety and struggles with mental well-being, concepts around gender identity and queerness; while simultaneously, of course, being thrown into even more chaos via the pandemic.
"I hope that these songs can make sense to the people who have never heard my music and the people who have supported me along the way. This is simply the best that I can be, through song, and the need to share that feeling with the world is what has kept me going this entire time.”
McLeod is also a collaborator in Zoon and Ombiigizi, two Indigenous bands that are amongst this scribe's favourites. Along with those groups' Daniel Monkman and Adam Sturgeon, he is producing some of the most exciting current Canadian music on offer.
The album has already earned rave reviews in Dominionated, Dusty Organ, Glide, EARMILK, and other online publications. It merits your attention.
Sunnsetter plays a free headline show at the Baby G in Toronto on April 9.
Links
Publicity: Julie Booth, Freshly Pressed PR
mgk and honestav in MelbourneSam Cahill