Do you ever get the feeling that you’re floating? Hail The Sun can definitely help if you haven't yet. The sounds travel from Chico, California. It’s packed with so many rhythms, it seems impossible to become bored with their second album, appropriately named Wake. The technical guitar sweeps hit as many beautiful notes as the singer Donovan Melero. The group also consists of guitarists Shane Gann (lead) and Aric Garcia (rhythm). On bass is John Stirrat and our vocals come from Donovan….Melero. Yes, the drummer is not only giving you sweet fills on his kit, but also serenading you in a totally different tempo. Wondering how he does it all might keep you up at night, so I don't recommend it.
This group's sound is actually impossible to get at with words. From the start, the album is a dream. The intro feels like you’re in some memory thanks to the guitar delay. It took me months to contrast that nostalgic feeling with the fact that Melero might be singing about being a serial killer. Maybe it's my fault, maybe, (in the best way possible) the guitars are too distracting? Maybe this album just never stops giving? It's been two years since its release, somehow I still find something new I love with every listen. One beauty of this album are the layers of sound. Another are the transitions between each track. It's a literal crime, injustice even, to listen to this album on shuffle. You can barely tell when a song ended and the next has begun. The second track, Human Target Practice, touches on Police Brutality. Lyrics like “Karma works too slow. No regrets for what you’ve done. You are nothing when you take away the gun”, light that fire inside if you’re at a live show. Any human with a conscious has to be overwhelmed with the troubles of today, and I feel a true artist should take those feelings and wrap a bow on them. Hail The Sun makes sure that when aliens find our rubble planet, they have nice sounds to pop in and see what went wrong. Peel away the layers of each track’s sound and underneath it Melero has a poetic message left to sit on your mind all week. Don't let that intimidate you, the rhythms on each track promise to keep you upbeat as you listen.
If you enjoy any type of creepiness, you’ll love the lyrics actually. Very eerie pictures are painted as Melero slams away at the drums all in one breath. To sample the ever changing tempo, I suggest starting with the track Cosmic Narcissism. It offers great guitar melody meshed with some good old breakdowns. Towards the end you can Hx2step <3. I am not a fan of mirroring two bands, but if I must it would be in comparison to Dance Gavin Dance. And this is a totally fair match up. Hail The Sun was on the independent label Blue Swan Records, which was started by DGD’s guitarist Will Swan. If you know anything about DGD, you know the groove is undeniable. It's impossible to sit still while tuning in, and that's exactly what Hail The Sun offers. An experimental sound that you just can't put your finger on. The track Relax / Divide offers a nice semi-acoustic feel for those who’d like to ease into the album or need something to read to. “Brought up to be more than particles frequently aligning with the sun” are the kind of words popular music lacks now a days. The ones that make you think why you’re here, what's your purpose in this cosmic dance? The kind of questions we tend to ask ourselves underneath all we do. Rather than feel crazy, Hail The Sun welcomes you to ask this and more, inviting you to dance until things are figured out.