
This past August, I featured the marvelously trippy single “Naked Monkey on a Spaceship” by British psychedelic pop/rock band Solar Eyes, which you can read here. Now the Birmingham trio, who are comprised of Glenn Smyth, Tom Ford and Sebastian Maynard-Francis, are back with a fantastic new single “I See the Sun“. “I See the Sun” is their third release in six months, with many more to come.
“I See the Sun” was born from a conversation Glenn had with the band’s mixing engineer Jeff Knowler. After Glenn mentioned to Jeff that he’d written a cool ’60s-sounding Tarantino-esque track on his newly acquired 12 string guitar, Jeff suggested that he watch Tarantino’s film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood before recording the track. Glenn took Jeff’s advice, and went up to his sweltering attic studio, where he found inspiration in the resounding reverb and echo chambers of late 60s music. He presented his recording to Jeff, who then put Once Upon A Time In Hollywood on loop in the background while he mixed Glenn’s track. The result is a gorgeous, cinematic song, highlighted by twangy western-style guitars that would make Ennio Morricone proud.
Everything about this song is perfect, beginning with that jolting opening guitar note to the infectious, galloping drumbeat, the swirling cinematic synths, castanet-like percussive sounds, soaring harmonies and, most of all, those fabulous spaghetti-western guitars. Then there are Glenn’s beautiful, reverb-drenched vocals as he sings of his eternal love for another: “I see the sun. The light shines on you and me. And that’s the way it’s meant to be, for eternity.” What a great song this is, and I’m loving this band.
As with their previous videos, the colorful animated video for “I See the Sun” was created by Matt Watkins, a videographer, lighting and visual design producer who’s a frequent collaborator with Gorillaz.
Connect with Solar Eyes: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram
Stream their music: Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube
I was just realizing- most songs I can think of with the word SUN in them- are pretty darn good songs- this one is no exception.
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You may be right Hans. I’ve done a post about ‘magic’ songs, but perhaps one about ‘sun’ songs might be in order, though there are a lot of them!
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I can’t think of a bad Sun song– there are a lot of great ‘Magic’ songs too now that you mention it….hmmm.
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Nice Ennio Morricone reference! I agree about the guitars and love the sound of this track!
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Great track and I love your spaghetti western reference.
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Psychedelic and twangy guitars…a cool combination. Love the back story about Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
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Reblogged this on ECLECTIC MUSIC LOVER and commented:
After signing with the label Fierce Panda, Solar Eyes had to take down some of their earliest releases so that they could be re-released under their new label. “I See the Sun” has been re-released, so I’m re-posting my review of the song from November 2021.
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