First Listen: Release The Sunbird, 'Come Back To Us'
Come Back to Us, the first album by Zach Rogue's new band Release the Sunbird, comes out July 26.
Come Back to Us, the first album by Zach Rogue's new band Release the Sunbird, comes out July 26.
Audio for this feature is no longer available.
High art and musical comfort food don't have to be mutually exclusive, but the latter doesn't get nearly enough credit on its own. A sighingly sunny pop record can be a day-brightener and a headache remedy rolled into one — no insignificant feat if you're the one with the bad day or the headache.
There's not a harsh note in the music of Release the Sunbird, an appropriately named side project led by Rogue Wave singer-songwriter Zach Rogue. But Come Back to Us, his new band's debut, never feels like wallpaper: For all its summery brightness, it remains as sweet as springtime, while still revealing subtle shades of autumnal melancholy.
Out July 26, Come Back to Us never sounds sweeter than when Rogue's voice intertwines with that of Kate Long in "Always Like the Son," a delicately plucked acoustic ballad that wafts through the record like a warm breeze. The song is a real tone-setter for an album best suited to long drives with the windows open. Out on the highway, the wind rushing in seems to whistle in harmony — and why wouldn't it?
More From This Series
First Listen
First Listen: Regina Spektor, 'What We Saw From The Cheap Seats'
Spektor is an oddball sentimentalist whose words summon universal feelings of love, hope and desire.
First Listen
First Listen: Sigur Rós, 'Valtari'
Valtari's collection of gorgeous, moody sound-washes fits right into the band's remarkable catalog.
First Listen
First Listen: Saint Etienne, 'Words And Music By Saint Etienne'
The long-running band's new album is full of unabashed electronic odes to pop's gravitational pull.
Comments
Please keep your community civil. All comments must follow the NPR.org Community rules and terms of use. See also the Community FAQ.
NPR reserves the right to read on the air and/or publish on its website or in any medium now known or unknown the e-mails and letters that we receive. We may edit them for clarity or brevity and identify authors by name and location. For additional information, please consult our Terms of Use.