If jangly guitars, velvet vocals and honey-rich harmonies are your thing, you need to hear this album. Much-loved local band The Autumn Hearts will be launching their brand new album Mr Sunshine this Friday night at The Oak, Tighes Hill. And what an album it is.
Since bringing Dave Carter (vocals, bass, anything really) into the Autumn Hearts’ fold, the band has developed a sound that is unmatched, echoing the psych-sparkle of sixties pop and presenting it in a way that is both nostalgic and refreshing in the 21st century.
These guys do psychedelic pop like no one else.
We at Newcastle Live were lucky enough to receive a preview copy of the album, and so here is just a taste…
Opening single and title track Mr Sunshine, written by Ed Peters (bass/vocals) is a cracker, one of the best songs released anywhere this year. The melody is dreamy pop, and the chorus is as catchy as hell. Carter is sublime on lead vocals, the harmonies are lush, and recruiting Newcastle’s Godfather of Rock Mark Tinson on sitar is a masterstroke. Listen to this a couple of times and you’ll find yourself singing it over and over. This gem deserves high-rotation airplay on the radio and mega streams everywhere else.
Second track is Distracted, a riff-driven Carter composition that has loads of energy with the guitars and harmonies layered to give it both rough edges and polish. Here, rock meets pop in the best way possible, delivering groove and ear candy in equal measure.
The beginning of Mesmerise instantly takes you back in time to the days of sing-along hooks, danceable beats and entrancing arrangements that seduce your senses and wrap you up in some kind of musical fairy-floss. There is a feel of fantasy and escapism as the instruments gel together to create a sound that prompts you to leave the everyday behind and immerse yourself in the music. Again, the harmonies take you on the ride until they reach the “when you talk like that” refrain to finish – and, after a bit of silence, there is a little extra too.
Then there’s Undone, a tune that allows the whispery tones in Carter’s voice to be heard, giving the song a gentle intimacy. The falsetto ooh-ooh-oohs are a wonderful touch as the guitar licks in and out to give the track texture and its drive. And, how often do you hear the word “happenstance” these days? It fits perfectly here.
Sink or Swim brings in a slightly rockier edge, but the vocals, the sheer majesty of the lead and harmonies combined with the bright guitar arpeggios, work a treat. This is followed up in Train, another rock injection, but this time founded in some aaah-aaah harmonies that keep it within the psych-pop realm in a way few others can achieve. Somewhere between dreamy and driven.
Sometimes it is the simple melodies that create genuine earworms and this is the case in When It Is Tomorrow, a song you swear you’ve heard before. Rhymes that stick in your head, seemingly easy but ultimately clever as they engage you in the song’s relatable story, the verses nicely contrasting with the slight angst in the choruses.
This lyrical dexterity can be heard again in Over It, a straighter rock song with a bit of personal bite. Another gem. And there’s still more.
Imagine taking a sprinkle of the Small Faces from then, adding a hint of The Church, and now wrapping it in a choir of delicious pop voices that are meant to make hit songs. Now, not every song is meant to be a hit, but on Mr Sunshine, there are pieces of pop joy in almost all the songs here, little fragments of the familiar, easy-to-listen-to melodies and hooks that get in and stay there.
On the album Mr Sunshine, The Autumn Hearts define their sound. Shiny psychedelic pop in all its harmony-drenched glory. Mr Sunshine is a great title too because it conveys the natural freedom and happiness that is inspired by this music. There’s a purity in the pop, the way that its musical form connects with you so quickly and, sometimes, stays with you as a memory-trigger or a feeling we hold on to subconsciously.
This is that sort of pop. Some might say old-fashioned, and, sure, it has its obvious influences, but this music combines history with the happening now. The old and the new gleefully unite with The Autumn Hearts.
Grab a copy of this album and let the sunshine in.
The Autumn Hearts are Dave Carter, Mick Punch, Ed Peters and Ross Peters. Catch them live this Friday night, 27 June, from 8 pm at The Oak, Tighes Hill.
