SUN ARAW - On Patrol (Not Not Fun)

Over the last couple of years Cameron Stallones' Sun Araw project has made some of the most intriguing music currently being produced. Mixing noise, exotica, metal, psychedelia, surf, lo-fi, dance, ambient, freak folk, and damn near anything else you could imagine, into a perfect sound forever, Sun Araw captivated with every beat, ever weird effect and every note along the way. Since 2008 Stallones has put out three eps to die for ("Beach Head," "The Phynx" & "Boat Trip") and a full length ("Heavy Deeds"). Each recording is unique, yet each have grown organically out of one another. Tied together by tribal beats and layers of jungle sound, both scary and bright, Stallones crafts travel music for both the body and mind. You can lay on your back to this while having an imaginary conversation with Colonel Kurtz on acid, or paint yourself and your Polynesian harem day-glo before engaging in some seriously heavy deeds indeed. Stallones channels in extreme light and extreme darkness, often making his music reflective of the hazy in-between. His music is the goods, plain and simple, yet nothing about this music is plain or simple.

With "On Patrol," Stallones returns after a relative period of silence for his second full length, which happens to be a double LP - least anyone thinks he was resting on his laurels between releases. As with each prior Sun Araw release, "On Patrol" is yet another evolution in Stallones' approach. Following the expansive and cosmic "Heavy Deeds," "On Patrol" finds Stallones' back here on earth slowly crawling through a waterfront urban jungle. When interviewed about the difference between "Heavy Deeds" and "On Patrol," Stallones said "Because no one can live in the 'Heavy Deeds' universe, on the Mind Planes, for serious amounts of time. Maybe some can but I can't, it's thin air up there. I started to realize that I needed an application, a way to interface and channel, allow that celestial energy to manifest itself here and now. We don't give any ground to the opposing forces, we just become skilled navigators, in the cruiser." So...yeah. But seriously, I think I understand what Stallones is getting at, in terms of scaling things down and creating a soundtrack for more earthly, but no less haunted, journeys. Indeed, "On Patrol" is the sound of Sun Araw contracting, playing with a more minimal palette and creating a darker, more lurking sound.

Early in the album touchstones that denote Sun Araw's music - disembodied vocals, repeated guitar motifs, organs and jungle drums off in the distance - appear. The difference is that in the past those elements would build into a psychedelic meltdown, whereas here Stallones allows each element to breath and linger, never edging them toward a noisy and chaotic climax. This is more spatial music than in the past. As the album progresses, Stallones increasingly trades in his tribal beats and ghostly voices for menacing drones, or minimal guitar ambiance, further drawing down his sound. He never tips the balance too far though. While a dark haze creeps across the album, Stallones doesn't take the music into anything approaching dark ambient territory. Instead, he injects those elements into the mix, coming up with something different and satisfyingly unique.

Stallones's soundscapes have always invoked imagery. His music works like a soundtrack, drawing the listener into their own private minds-eye film. "On Patrol's" titles provide plenty of hints as to what the content to that film could be here. Songs with titles like "Beat Cop," "Stakeout," "Deep Cover," "Congo Mind," "Dimension Alley," and "Holodeck Blues" paint a gritty and haunted world where ghosts, and maybe an alien or two, roam. Whether or not you are a mere observer or something else is for you to decide. Either way, as with past Sun Araw works, the album is a journey; one that will stimulate, challenge and please while adding yet another layer to Stallones' already incredible body of work.

DEEP COVER - SUN ARAW from CatCakes on Vimeo.

Sun Araw - Dimension Alley from Steph D on Vimeo.