The Breakdown
Fresh out of school and already finalists in the 2022 JJJ Unearthed competition, Adelaide’s Sunsick Daisy released their spectacular debut EP ‘Breathe In…Breathe Out’ in 2023 (see my review here). They have now followed this up with their new EP entitled ‘Yonder’ and it reflects a greater maturity and growth but with the same exemplary songwriting talents as before.
It is quite a stunning masterpiece that sits on the same shelf as material by fellow antipodeans Fazerdaze and Hatchie and bands like Ride: five perfect shimmering and incandescent pop songs filled with yearning and melody that sparkle like sunlight off an ocean. This is a band that is on track to being one of the most exciting rising talents in Australia: shoegaze and dream pop exponents that reach out to a wider audience with an assurance that belies their tender years.
Opening track ‘Hideaway’ emerges from a bed of synths with wild swerving crisp guitars and a cinematic driving force. Haunting velvet vocals glide over the top: soft and melodic with a rousing chorus that enhances their shoegaze credentials. It’s a glorious start: epic widescreen and with a distinct sound with the wall of guitars providing a bedrock to scintillating sky scraping solos.
The shimmering guitars return with a little more muscle but just as much sparkle in ‘Over & Over’ with its charming antipodean accent in the vocals and a chorus that lifts like an albatross on an updraft as with just as much mesmerising grace. The thread of delicious melancholy continues to thread its way through the delivery. This another epic masterpiece: thrilling and euphoric, ending in a blast of feedback. A bleak romanticism bleeds through the lyrics:
I’ll dry my eyes
For one more night
I’ve said goodbye
Over and over and over
A enigmatic video directed by Eve Burner accompanies this gorgeous track:
‘It’ll Be Alright’ eschews the MBV overtones for something far brighter with a pop sensibility and layered harmonies, like a mix between The Cure’s ‘Friday I’m In Love’ with its iridescent sparkle and a sixties girl band bounce. It’s pure pop girl band day-glo pop that is glorious and effervescent. The track reaches a crescendo that is eye-watering. Just brilliant. It segues perfectly into ‘Bite My Tongue’ with more transcending melodies and a slamming guitar and certain insouciance.
Final track ‘Yonder, Young Wonder’ ends , if at all possible with a bigger blast: a wall of chiming guitars that give way to male vocals from Kane bleeding a yearning melancholia over a delicate bed of shimmering instruments. This track recalls many elements of Ride with the harmonies and gentle interplay of guitars that shine like dappled sunshine. Kane says of the track:
‘Yonder, Young Wonder’ is about the dangers of nostalgia and how sad it can make you feel. Learning to take in life as it happens has been difficult in the digital age and I’ve noticed we often get nostalgic and feel like life has already passed us by. Like we’re not ready to be adults. As much as we try to hold onto our youth, life only moves forward.
‘Yonder’ is out now and available to download and stream here.
Feature Photograph: Evie Wonder
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