Ukrainian heavy rock trio Stoned Jesus are poised to release their new album, Songs to Sun, on September 19 via Season of Mist. This highly anticipated record marks the first installment of an ambitious trilogy, a creative endeavor born from a period of prolific songwriting by frontman Igor Sydorenko.
“After taking a good hard look at what I have amassed through all these years, it dawned on me that there are three directions for the material,” he explains. “There are heavy songs; there are more dark, introspective, moody kind of tracks. And there are actually a lot of ideas that would fit perfectly for, like, two long, 20-minute epics.”
This insight led to the creation of the trilogy. “Songs to Sun is the one that’s coming in September. It’s the heavy, aggressive one. Songs to Moon is the dark, moody one that’s coming out next year. And the closing album in the trilogy, Songs to Earth, is just two side-long, 20-minute progressive epics.”
The recording process for Songs to Sun was remarkably swift, a testament to the band’s newfound synergy with their current lineup. Sydorenko recounts that they “started working on the songs with the guys, maybe late May last year, and we recorded the whole thing late August, early September, after just like a handful of rehearsals.” He adds, “I was very nervous, because it was the first recording with this lineup. We literally did it all in nine days, even though we booked ten.”
Lyrically, Sydorenko explained his approach, which prioritizes atmosphere and individual interpretation over direct narratives. “I’m not the big story kind of guy. I don’t write songs that go, you know, from point A to point B. My lyrics are more about the things that evoke certain atmosphere and certain pictures in the mind of a listener, and that sometimes these things can be described and taken differently by many different people.”
While not explicitly about the conflict in Ukraine, the album’s themes are deeply shaped by the band’s experiences as Ukrainians who have had to relocate. “There are a lot of themes specifically on this album, of like losing the ground, of falling, of being sucked into this quicksand, going into Shadowland, feeling low, struggling with my own people-pleasing tendencies. And this is all about the instability that all of us are feeling at the moment, obviously, because all three of us are Ukrainians, and we had to move from Ukraine. We’re currently based in Europe.”
He firmly states his aversion to overtly political or “cringey” lyrics, but concedes, “I guess it’s pretty obvious that the situation had a great influence on us, on our mental state, on how we feel, and this is traceable in the lyrics.”
Despite the profound challenges they face, Stoned Jesus have ambitious touring plans. “We have two tours coming up that we’ve been working on for a long, long time.” They will be going to both Australia and Latin America, followed by more dates in Europe in 2026. They’re also in talks about a U.S. tour.
The band are already actively working on the next installment of the trilogy, Songs to Moon. Sydorenko confirms, “We’re hitting the studio in two weeks. We’ve already done the basic skeletons.” He anticipates that the lyrical direction for Songs to Moon will continue to reflect the theme of instability but will likely delve into “a little more personal” territory. He also touches upon the visual aspects of the trilogy, noting that “the cover and the photo shoots and the videos and everything that is connected to the album (is) a huge chunk of work, and this is something that is also very, very important.”
Songs to Sun is out Friday, and you can preorder it from Season of Mist. Follow Stoned Jesus on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok for future updates.
