“As Sunbeam Sound Machine, Nick makes beautiful blissed out dreampop” – Brooklyn Vegan
“Dripping in reverb and guitar pedals, it’s a psych-lovers dream — a blissful journey into Sowersby’s creative mindset…” – Indie Shuffle
“Wonderer is a hazy 13-track odyssey of light-textured pop hooks that lurk beneath breathy vocals and dollops of distortion.” – The Brag
“An utterly charming record that demands repeat listening.”. – The Music
Following on from 2014’s acclaimed debut Wonderer, Sunbeam Sound Machine’s second LP Goodness Graciousis outtodaythrough Dot Dash/Remote Control Records. The album debuted at #10 on the NACC (North American College and Community Chart) this week.
After selling out of Bandcamp vinyl weeks ahead of release, copies will be available for purchase at a special in-store in Melbourne at Oh Jean Records this Saturday at 5pm. Details via the poster below.
The recording project of Melbourne-based multi-instrumentalist and producer Nick Sowersby, Sunbeam Sound Machine first garnered attention for 2013’s One/Sunbeam Sound Machine double-EP, before Wonderer received widespread acclaim, leading to nationwide touring in Australia and the US with Sowersby’s 5-piece live outfit.
Goodness Gracious is a self-produced affair, written, recorded and mixed by Sowersby in his home studio before being mastered by John Lee (Laura Jean, Lost Animal, Totally Mild) at Phaedra Studios. Sonically, Goodness Gracioustrades inWonderer’s experimental headphone psychedelia for something at once more intimate and expansive, full to the brim with chiming guitars, glittering loops and warped, cinematic strings.
Sowersby says of Goodness Gracious: “I began working on this album in an exploratory way, recording for recording’s sake until an album began to naturally take form. Along the way I found some sounds that it feels like I’ve been hearing in my head for years. The result is 11 songs that document a period of change, about what we look to for guidance, comfort and stability in uncertain times”
Many of the songs are built up from chopped guitar loops created at random, this patchwork approach helping push the album into new sonic territory. Layered on top of the loops are warped, cinematic strings, glittering guitar lines and warm, muted synths. Sowersby strikes a melancholy but hopeful tone onGoodness Gracious, the songs detailing a period of change, upheaval and growth on a personal and musical level. The result is an intimate display of vulnerability and confidence that displays Sowersby’s maturation as a songwriter and producer.
Written and recorded without an intended overarching theme, Goodness Gracious became an album about finding a port in a storm, about the things that save us in chaotic times, be it the comfort of loved ones and family, something within or the act of creation itself.
