Just in time for tomorrow’s premiere of “In The Interim”, the newest full length album from alt rock shoegazers NO SUN, we’re stoked to give you an early listen of the full thing and our special interview below! The record drops on September 30th th via Church Road Records and Flesh and Bone Records. Pre-order HERE and give it a listen below!
In the Interim explores territory familiar to the band but finds them on canvases now curious, the end result is a selection of songs refreshing and restorative, ultimately laying bare to the quintessentials that have always been No Sun: honesty, rumination, and a large dose of volume.
In the four years since No Sun released their debut album, the band has seen extensive changes, both internally and externally. In the Interim, the band’s sophomore release is a culmination of these changes that find the band on the other side of a storm, a release that signals their progression as both vision and sound coalesce into something different altogether.
The band, now operating as the two-piece dynamic of Salt Lake City-based guitarist/vocalist Jordon Strang and Chicago-based drummer Jake Morse, cast recognizable yet new and curious sounds through a kaleidoscope of fuzz and cymbals.
The cacophony of tracks “In My Heaven” and “Saturn Returning” live in contrast to the repose and rain-soaked passages of “Near to Me” and “Life Beneath.” Guitars slowly become pinwheels of sound that in turn drift into landscapes, a mountainous backdrop to Strang’s hushed vocals. This is the place where No Sun is most at home, one occupied by equal parts faith and nostalgia. In the Interim explores territory familiar to the band but finds them on canvases now curious, the end result is a selection of songs refreshing and restorative, ultimately laying bare to the quintessentials that have always been No Sun: honesty, rumination, and a large dose of volume.
It’s so great to hear from you guys and anticipate your newest work. “Warm” has been my long time favorite for newer gloomy, deep shoegaze singles for the last couple of years and I can’t wait to hear your new work! What has changed since 2015? How has NO SUN evolved?
Thank you so much for your support. Warm truly feels like a lifetime ago in a weird way. The band has more or less been in a constant state of change since releasing Warm. Lineup changes, releasing the first record If Only, some touring, releasing a few other singles along the way, and now preparing for the release of this new record. No Sun’s sound has also evolved and expanded in many ways as well.
How have you guys been affected by two years of pandemic-disrupted living and running a band?
It definitely took a pretty heavy toll on us as a band. We had just recorded In The Interim in January of 2020 and we were preparing for a year of extensive touring in support of the record. When the pandemic hit, our plans fell apart and we decided to sit on the record until we could begin playing shows again. Almost two and a half years later, here we are and it feels kind of crazy that we’re finally releasing it, but really cathartic and exciting at the same time.
Post pandemic wise, how do you assess this ‘new era’ that brought a new dawn to music a couple months back? How has your local music scene changed as a result of these turbulences?
I think I personally take it in with even more appreciation than I did before. The pandemic made me hyper aware of all the day to day things I took for granted that were so accessible or normal before, and having cool shows to go to in Salt Lake on a regular basis was definitely a part of that. When I started going to shows again it felt exhilarating and energizing all over again.
Regarding the scene itself, I think it gave a lot of people time to practice and work on new material or form new projects entirely. It also seems like a lot of shows start and end a lot earlier than before which I thought was interesting.
Ok, so now you’re back with a brand new offering, your sophomore LP “In The Interim”. Tell us a bit about the idea for this release, meaning of the title and how it all got together for this new chapter of yours.
When we first recorded Warm and If Only, I felt like I was just starting to figure out what kind of music I was really trying to create with this project. With this second record, we essentially tried to expand on everything we were previously leaning into in a big way.
After we wrote and released our song “Drifting” in 2019, it kind of set the tone for what was to come. The title essentially came from this feeling of a shift in not only the material I was writing and myself as a person, but the record also being recorded at the very end of everything feeling normal in the world.
We recorded the record at Timewell Studios in a town in Indiana called Chesterton with Zach Montez in the middle of the winter. The studio was right outside of Indiana Dunes National Park and it was in this kind of wooded area where the fog would sometimes roll in. We were sleeping in the studio and only really leaving to shower or go find food.
The Region definitely has some vibes and between the vibes, the cold, the isolation, and the woods it felt to me almost as if we were in this place that was entirely “other”, and whatever was on the other side was yet to be seen. So I think all of that ended up playing into the idea behind the name and what this new era seems to represent in the present moment.
Music wise, how have your inspirations changed? How has your sound evolved?
After Drifting, we knew we wanted the record to be heavier, somewhat darker, and more experimental than our previous material. I started listening to more slowcore and the music I was writing was starting to slow down too. The band’s sound has also definitely gotten thicker and heavier, while focusing more on experimenting with different sonic textures.
How did you team up with Church Road Records and Flesh and Bone Records for this release?
Our drummer Jake operates the Flesh and Bone label and once we started writing new material it seemed to make the most sense to have more direct contact with the release itself. This past year I started playing bass for a band called Grivo who worked with Church Road for their most recent LP “Omit”. I was fortunate enough to meet Justine and Sammy at Church Road through my affiliation to Grivo and we hit it off from there.
Ok, so what’s up next for you guys? What plans do you have lined up for the rest of the year and beyond?
For the rest of the year I’ll be working on more No Sun material but we’ll be laying low on performing. We expect to see the road again sometime in the new year.
Thanks so much for your time. Feel free to ass anything you like, share your top picks for new music, your top listens playlist or whatever you feel is worth mentioning here. Cheers!
Check out Jake’s other band Brady. They just dropped an awesome new album called “You Sleep While They Watch”.
