The last few years have seen a dramatic uptick in shoegaze appreciation, with bands like Loathe, Slow Crush, and Exit Dream releasing to great traction and Hundredth pivoting to include the ethereal tones of a revitalized genre. Salt Lake City’s No Sun were arguably ahead of the curve. Starting as the solo project of Jordon Strang, No Sun quickly grew to a fully-fledged band, releasing their debut EP, Warm, in late 2015 and their first full-length, If Only, in 2017. Since then, the band has undergone extensive evolution, and now sits as the dynamic two-piece of guitarist and vocalist Jordon Strang and drummer Jake Morse. Reflecting on all these experiences, the duo have crafted a meaningful and rich record in the form of In The Interim, of which single “In My Heaven” is the first glimpse.
‘In My Heaven is about finding a fabricated sense of calm and security through escapism,” the band revealed. ‘Attempting to find a sense of comfort and peace while a darker reality lies beneath the avoidance and the delaying of the true confrontation of the turmoil within the self.’ The track illustrates No Sun at their strongest, having weathered the storm of everything life has thrown at them in the years since If Only. It captures their message perfectly, contrasting the calm serenity of Strang‘s airy vocals with the abrasive immersion of their distortion and effect pedals. “In My Heaven” weaves effortlessly between delicate and crushing. ‘Ultimately this track immediately felt like a single to us because it not only sonically captures what we tried to achieve with this album, but lyrically touches on an overlying theme of the record.’
“In My Heaven” is at once uplifting and sombre, hypnotic and turbulent, an adventurous yet logical evolution from the band’s previous work. All lending itself to a vivid and enchanting listening experience. The visualizer, too, reflects this kaleidoscope of fuzz, contrasting the desaturated grittiness of the real world with dreamlike effects and psychedelic polychrome. No Sun make their return to a scene that is once again primed for ethereal melancholy, and their brand of grunge-tinged shoegaze, with its dense layering of sound – both dreamy textures and distorted guitars alike – is sure to please. It has been a long and arduous road for No Sun to get here, but the rest of In The Interim is sure to depict every twist and turn as adeptly as “In My Heaven”.
In The Interim will be released September 30th via Church Road Records/Flesh and Bone Records, and you can pre-order it here.