Delivering the electronic equivalent of almost every genre you can conceive, Sunday’s new album Kintsugi is a sonic ode to “the process of rebuilding.”
Sunday have released their debut album Kintsugi. A thirteen-track odyssey through the reaches of electronica, Kintsugi pays homage to its namesake Japanese artform in exploring “the process of rebuilding,” Sunday explained in a press statement.
Though the project is anchored both its themes and its dreamy synthesisers, each track dips its toe into a variety of electronic sounds, with album opener Anyhow veering towards an ambient soundscape.
Punctuated by mesmeric vocals, Anyhow begins slowly before introducing a foot-tapping bassline, which later dissolves into a rich and textured chorus. “Anyhow, I can see,” Sunday croons atop jungle-like percussion, “we are lost in a dream.” Switching to a more upbeat rhythm on second track Whisper In Me, Sunday makes use of jazzy synths for a sunnier tracklist entry filled with ascendent backing vocals and pop-leaning refrain.
Later, on Talking to the River, Sunday pairs brooding vocals with xylophone flairs, likening a river to the experience of self-discovery. Home to perhaps the album’s catchiest chorus, Talking to the River outlines a new direction for Kintsugi without losing sight of Sunday’s staples. Sunday’s vocals are forefronted on Soon, which see the musician deliver raw emotionality in between layered harmonic riffs.
Elsewhere, Sunday ventures into techno territory on Feel a Light, which stands as Kintsugi’s clearest dance floor filler. Coasting on bouncy trap, the track builds to a crescendo with the help of glitch-like beats, which make way for an explosive chorus of glistening vocals and trebled sound effects. Sunday’s versatility rears its head yet again on Falling Apart, which serves as the electronic equivalent of a soft-rock cut.
With its guitar-like synths and screechy asides, Falling Apart boasts the album’s simplest song structure, with a whirring final verse that could be considered electro-metal. “How does it feel to be falling apart?” Sunday whispers against kaleidoscopic instrumentation, “fading like drops in the rain.”
Sunday later tries his hand at balladry on Lost in Love, which makes use of a slower tempo and soulful piano for a powerful rumination on loyalty. The track’s initial minimalism later makes way for a cacophony of brooding electronics, but the heartfelt lyricism remains equally haunting throughout.
Later, on We’ll Do It Anyway, Sunday uses what sounds like a Lily Allen sample for his clearest example of an earworm ditty. Blending eccentric sound effects with syllabic vocal delivery, the track sounds like the lovechild of aughties pop and Nicolas Jaar, and emerges as Kintsugi’s quirkiest entry yet.
Sunday’s eclectic palette coalesces on album closer Living In Between, with swelling and climactic electronics that give the project a sense of finality. There’s an R&b quality to the track, with its sauntering beats that pair with a more sultry vocal performance from Sunday.
Kintsugi marks Sunday’s debut album, having released their first EP Pillar of Salt in 2019. Speaking of the project in a press statement, Sunday said it “has covered a lot of big emotional events in my life that have made me question the very basis of the human condition.”
Listen to Sunday’s new album Kintsugi below.
