Consisting of Ethan McBrien, Rory Hurley and Garrett Cameron, New Hampshire psych-folk outfit Party of the Sun is a project quite literally rooted in the environment. Working from a variety of rural and natural locations, the trio have released a number of EPs and albums in recent times, and are now working on a series of monthly singles on Trailing Twelve Records. The format frees the band from the restrictions of an album, evading the need for overarching themes to instead focus on whatever inspiration feels most pertinent at any given location or moment.
Writing of previous single ‘Hymns Forgot‘, we described how Party of the Sun “stitche[d] together layers of bright guitars, shuffling percussion and lush harmonies to evoke an easy springtime warmth,” though the lyrics were more conflicted. Dealing with a rising distance between nature and humanity, the song positioned this phenomenon in relation to the crimes of the past, where land was viewed merely as something to be taken and exploited, thus ushering in “an urban life removed from the peace of the natural world,” which can be traced directly to historic cultural violence.
Latest release ‘Tamarack Gate’ offers a slower rhythm to the the previous song, its lush guitars dotted with gentle vibraphone and pattering percussion to create what is a richly fertile soundscape. McBrien’s vocals winds their way through the world as one might a temperate forest, their slow quiet muted by drizzle and dew as they reflect on the value of a more sedate style of living. The journal entry shared alongside the track gives more detail:
Mud season swallows the road outside the Brick House, 24” ruts, impassable. It’s the early morning of the year, late March, a good time for lucid dreaming. “Tamarack Gate” asks us to reimagine its form, we do so while tracking live, it happens quick. Joy hums. This one is about finding a way to slow down and still keep the ship right side up.
Photo by Rachel Allen