London-based James Sullivan, best known as the frontman of power pop trio More Kicks and a member of the “apocalypse pop supergroup” Suspect Parts—is releasing his first solo album, Light Years, on November 5, Ahead of the new debut LP, he is sharing the new song and video, “Lea Bridge.”
The album was recorded in Sullivan’s home during one of London’s several lockdowns, mixing a variety of sounds and ideas including blitzed-out fuzz, paranoid drum machine twitches, stadium-sized reflections, and lo-fi 60s pop nuggets.
Sullivan talks more about the making of the new record: “In November 2020, London was entering into one of its various lockdowns. I’d gathered some semi-broken analog gear over the last couple of years including an 8-track tape machine which I got repaired. So to stay sane, I set myself the challenge of writing 10 songs in 10 days and then recording them as an ‘album,’ just by myself in a tiny room next to the warehouse where I was living.
“It was entirely a selfish project to feel like something was moving in my life and to get better at recording. The whole point was to avoid obsessing or overthinking anything. An album purely based on instinct that probably no one would ever hear. It sounds like a good concept even if the potential of it to be bad is very high. (I’m always reminded of that Onion article ‘Man goes alone to cabin in woods with a guitar to make shitty, shitty album.’) ”
The lead single “Lea Bridge” blends saturated guitars and a swirling organ, adding a spoken word account of a fatigued journey across town.
Preorder the new album here, and watch the video for “Lea Bridge” below:
For more from James Sullivan, find him on Instagram.
Photo courtesy of James Sullivan
