REVIEW: Sun Kiss — Fresh Air (SINGLE)
As the summer winds to a close during another tumultuous year, plenty are asking themselves, “what do I want?” and “can I even get it”. It’s never a good feeling to have when you’re not on steady footing and Sun Kiss and their new single “Fresh Air” aims to provide comfort to the plenty of lost people in the world right now.
The song starts off with a hypnotic plucking guitar that reverberates in the air like a rattling in the skull. “Think it over, till I”m sober again/wanna leave you but I’d be losing a good friend”, and from the get-go the thesis of the song is made staggeringly clear. It’s a song about the conflict within and how difficult choices will inevitably show up and if we’re able to justify our actions in them. For as much as “Fresh Air” might be about the relaxing feeling of stepping out of a party to literally take a breather, it’s also a sort of sonic baptism of sorts. Thinking about the life that feels close to the edge like you can touch it, but your demons are getting in the way. Even when the narrator tries to justify it with lines about how his Doctor says he’s having too much of a good time and they don’t cover it, those anachronisms take on a different form when it’s understood that he’s being told that he needs to slow down. It’s wild to me that a song this easy going can be so packed with ideas and personality while still maintaining such a catchy groove.
https://open.spotify.com/album/3ZYslYHQotwGIuZ9Q73Gbw
The chorus is put to perfect use here and I can see many people vibing with it on a long drive or in the privacy of some earbuds and a late night thought session. It’s not exactly an upper of a song, nor does it try to disguise itself as such, but there’s this refreshing sound to it that’s definitely boosted by its bubbly synths and the again aforementioned strong hook. There’s an almost nostalgic quality to the sound that I think is indebted to a lot of older indie acts from the 90s and 2000s, and while the more synth-heavy approach is certainly cut from today’s musical cloth, it almost feels revitalized with the way that Sun Kiss utilizes it. It’s not a pastiche, but a quilt of emotions and memories distilled to its purest form. I’ll just be blunt in saying that this is one of my favorite new releases this year, and one I’ll be strongly recommending to my friends. It also has the benefit of being a song that I feel would lend itself incredibly well to a film soundtrack considering just how wide and cinematic it can sound.
Personally I suggest that the first listen be done on headphones if only so you can really experience the power of it and how excellently mixed and mastered it is. Sun Kiss has knocked it out of the park and truly brought the fresh air we’ve been looking for.
Colin Jordan
