big long sun’s latest album is for the dreamers
‘love songs and spiritual recollections’ takes on a whimsical angle in Brighton’s eight-piece indie outfit’s latest release.
★★★★☆
Photo: Bill Redshaw
The Brighton outfit’s latest album, love songs and spiritual recollections,serves as the band’s third album, keeping up their streak of releasing an album each year since 2024. big long sun regularly play live, especially in their hometown, and so it’s genuinely applaudable how they’ve managed to concoct such a well-developed album while being constantly on the road.
such a lovely day acts as a great opener, with gentle guitar instrumentation providing a wonderful platform for Jamie Broughton’s vocals to life. His voice brings such an authentic feel to the track, and the layered backing vocals work perfectly to help fade the track out.
Second song, i left a note, acts as such a beautiful love song, following a story of someone confessing their feelings through leaving a note by their bedside table, and the two-minute-long track gradually swells on the build-up to the chorus. It harnesses an almost faintly familiar sound, and the song is simply filled with nostalgia and the bittersweet feeling of young love.
heavy (on your mind) and look away (and it’s over) feel almost like distant cousins. The first track has a gentle drumbeat lying at the heart of the song, acting almost like a pulse; it provides the rhythm that Broughton’s vocals then follow, layering these vocals over the top, leaning into an almost dream-like effect, which works brilliantly.
The hazy, almost psychedelic merge of the instruments in the bridge really allows the brilliance of big long sun’s instrumentation to take centre stage. The latter track feels as though it follows a sort of similar pattern, gradually building and allowing the song to become more complex and layered as it builds. This is one of my personal favourites on the album; it’s just structured so perfectly.
a way out is another immensely dreamy track. The high-pitched guitar loop really draws you into the track, and this was the perfect song to drop mid-spring, as I feel like it perfectly soundtracks the longing for summer that I’m sure we’re all experiencing.
my stars aligning was the first single released from the album, and it thrusts you into such a high-energy song initially, simmering down to basic instrumentation and vocals in the verse, before picking right back up in the chorus. Filled with a kind of child-like joy (due to the lack of distinct lyrics in the chorus), this fits so well with the sound that big long sun have created for themselves — this is one of their strongest tracks.
if you get excited has a bit more of a slowed tempo and, along with sad happy song, these two tracks act as the slower section of the album. The songs themselves are full of beautiful lyricism; however, I think it’s easy for them to get lost amongst some of the other more complex tracks found on the album.
call it a voice brings the tempo right back up and, acting as the B-side to my stars aligning,this was the only other track listeners could hear before the album’s release. Full of some great strings that put the melody to the forefront of the listener’s attention, this felt like an excellent choice to release prior to the album itself, and displays big long sun knowing exactly how to push their music to its very limits.
another situation with you takes on a whimsical feel. The violin adds another layer of depth to the track, and provides such a great piece of instrumental work within the song.
oh god am i and a remedy close out big long sun’s third album. It feels as though they saved some of the slower tracks for the end of love songs and spiritual recollections, making for the perfect flow. Final song, a remedy, with its acoustic guitar-driven tune, feels like the perfect closer. The soft vocals and overall gentle feel is a beautiful way to close out the band’s third musical endeavour — I’m excited to see what else they bring to Brighton’s buzzing music scene.
love songs and spiritual recollections is out now via state51.
