Album Review

Sunny Day Sets Fire – Summer Palace

• 4th Mar 2009

You would assume that when an album cover contains the words sunny and summer it’s a bright, happy affair; and thankfully this assumption doesn’t make an ass of you and me.
A truly international ensemble, with members from Italy, Canada, Hong Kong and the UK, Sunny Day Sets Fire have been making their own brand of ‘epic psychedelic pop’ for a few years now, with this is their first full length record.

The album initially comes across as a light and poppy, but on closer inspection there is a lot more depth and power to many of the compositions. ‘All Our Songs’ begins with a simple little guitar riff and subtly builds to an impressive crescendo, whilst ‘Stranger’ benefits from strong drums from the start and the kind of assured rhythm that permeates the album.
Musically similar to bands like Architecture in Helsinki or The Flaming Lips, the mixture of lead singer Mauro and drummer/synth lady Onyee is also reminiscent of The Magnetic Fields, although her lone vocals on the melancholy ‘Siamese’ represents the album’s low point.

If the winter sun is out and you want to fast forward a few months, then this is the perfect pretend summer soundtrack; happy pop with substance.