Music is a powerful tool that can cross all kinds of boundaries. Whether it be the boundaries of nations or the boundaries of genres. From the city of Bordeaux, France of all places we meet the fairly new “dark pop” quartet The Sunday Sadness. Presenting their self-titled debut EP, the four gentlemen aim very high. Right from the first bars in the opening track ‘Lost In The Crowd’, it becomes clear that the band doesn’t try to hide its influences. Melancholic synthesizer dreamscapes are present throughout their entire discography, enriched with their live instrumentation. The band’s sound feels very familiar, as traces of bands like The 1975, Chase Atlantic and newer Bring Me The Horizon material can be found. Not necessarily unique, but still very well executed. The French heartthrobs have already garnered some success with their first singles, ‘Someone’ and ‘The Wrong Way’, but it’s a track like ‘Damn I Hate It’ that’s going to take the band to higher places. A very optimistic, tropical sounding tune with a layer of sadness in the lyrics and the vocal delivery. The way the song’s structure works tends to promise us a very fun and energetic performance during their live shows. It’s dynamic with a few intense moments, yet it never loses its groove or rhythmic intensity. ‘Sad Songs’ sound less promising however. The slow and dreary instrumentation, coupled with a somewhat cheesy rap verse on the latter song, just don’t give off the same vibe as the other tracks. It sounds too forced. A bit of a shame really, considering how solid the EP is, especially for a debut EP. These seven tracks show all the potential The Sunday Sadness has to offer, and it won’t be the only time we hear from them.
Score: 7.5/10 Facebook:/TheSundaySadness Twitter: @tsundaysadness