Setting Sun: 'Fantasurreal'

After spending much of 2008 and 2009 touring, Setting Sun make a return with ‘Fantasurreal’, their fourth full-length release since ‘Children Of The Wild’, which topped the CMJ charts for eight weeks.

Receiving rave reviews and praise from the blogging-community and press, many of their songs have featured in independent films, as well as on TV shows and commercials. However, on listening to this release, billed as a ‘creative renaissance’, it’s difficult to find out why.

The opening track ‘Driving’ is bright and lively enough. With its soul-enriched melody and electro-sounding groove, it awakens you in a very radiant manner. Frontman Gary Levitt’s voice, in particular, elevates the song, with his soft, soothing tone. What is evident is the ‘country-pop’ feel to the track, something that in fact runs throughout the course of the album. So if electro-folk music is your cup-of-tea, then this will be right up your alley.

The eeriest track on the album, ‘Sacrifice’, intriguingly has the contrast of being melancholic and joyful at the same time, whilst ‘Don’t Grow Up’ (which kind of says a lot about this record) features guitar-work reminiscent of Radiohead’s acoustic rendition of ‘Creep’. ‘I Love Mellotrons’ is the album’s standout track, mainly due to being a full instrumental, slow and progressive, whilst the final song, ‘The Sympathetic CEO’, ends the album on a high note with its relaxed electronic ushering. But these tracks aside, which by no means are instant classics, there really isn’t much else on offer. The songs just don’t hit you - they just blend together, forming nothing tangible. By the time the album has finished, it leaves you with nothing to say.

You can see how the indie crowd would take this album to heart, with its free, chilled-out, no-care-in-the-world attitude, but there really is no substance to it whatsoever.



Released on 4th February 2010 by Young Love Records.

Written by Jaysen Ramasamy.