Earlier today I shared my favourite albums of 2023 with someone. This next record was not on that list.
Disc 1727 is…Anarchist Gospel
Artist: Sunny War
Year of Release: 2023
What’s up with the Cover? I’m not sure if I should smile at this cover or just stare at it steely-eyed. It appears the cover is experiencing the same indecision with regard to me.
How I Came To Know It: The usual way – I read a review and gave it a listen. In retrospect, I should’ve given it two listens. Instead, I bought it.
How It Stacks Up: I only have this one Sunny War album, so it can’t stack up.
Rating: 2 stars
Unrealized promise is the phrase the comes to mind on this album. It is that promise that drew me to “Anarchist Gospel” on the first listen. Various elements hint at a lot of cool sonic and songwriting innovation. Sunny War mixes blues, rock and folk in a way that you don’t hear very often, and for a tired old music hound like me, innovation is a good way to get my attention.
The record is eclectic, with a potpourri of song experimentation. This I have no quarrel with. The record is replete with “hey, I’m trying this!” moments that are initially admirable. Ms. War (the album has lots of guest stars, but War is a solo artist) draws on many musical traditions. She also has a versatile voice that lets her adjust style to best suit what she’s drawing on.
Often, the idea she is exploring feels like a fully realized fragment. She takes a repetitive phrase – both in terms of music and lyrics – that folds in on itself in an effort to first set a mood and then settle into that mood for a lengthy stay. When done well, it feels great. “I Got No Fight” is a great example, a sad and weary number where she steps down through a bone-wearying melody, accompanied by some stellar work on guitar. The song doesn’t go anywhere, but it sits down in the pocket of its own sadness so well you are content to wallow.
Many other songs try a similar “rinse and repeat” approach, but most don’t come close to achieving the standard of “I Got No Fight”. Instead, most made me restless and a little bored before they were half over. “Sweet Nothing” is the worst offender, with a very-often repeated phrase that spins on itself for north of seven minutes. I kind of liked the first couple of minutes, but by the time I was halfway through I was wishing for a bit more sweet and bit less nothing. The guitar work is still great, but here it feels aimless, like a musician just picking away idly while lost in thought, as opposed to writing a song with a beginning, middle and an end.
I should note at this point that I like my songs to have those component parts. Sunny War songs feel like they have a lot of “middle” but are missing starts and ends. If a bit of mood music, extrapolated inward is your bag, then this will not be a negative for you. For me I just wanted something to fucking happen.
My reaction to “Anarchist Gospel” was a lot more strongly negative than the record deserves for this reason. What Sunny War is doing, she is doing well, I just wanted her to get on with full structure. You know how Rush annoys some people the way they insist on moving through multiple riffs and concepts in a single song? Well Sunny War is the opposite, she moves through one concept only, and does it very slowly.
This record is 14 songs and 50 minutes but it feels a whole lot longer, and I was ready to be done long before it was. All the cool concepts and artful guitar playing in the world isn’t enough on their own. Similarly many songs have great phrases, but they are used to evoke emotion only, and rarely unfold into broader concepts or stories. One deeply held idea, mercilessly explored, is what you can expect.
There’s every likelihood other people will like this album better than I did, but for me I think the three songs in “best tracks” is all I need. Or as Sunny War sings on “Hopeless”, “I stayed just a little too long/now it’s time for me to move on.”
Indeed it is.
Best tracks: No Reason, I Got No Fight, Baby Bitch
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