Single Review: Burning Sun

Having built a steady portfolio of compositions since the turn of this century, Age Pryor (Fly My Pretties, The Woolshed Sessions, Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra) has inconspicuously become a pillar amongst New Zealand’s finest artists. And in the same understated way his career has unfolded so far, his new single Burning Sun retains the unassuming charm and placidity of his sound.

Featuring the vocals of Wellington-based singer-songwriter Deanne Krieg, Burning Sun basks in its gentle, indie-alternative joy. Krieg is the perfect symmetry to Pryor’s grounded vocals – a seamless match in harmonic bliss. While it’s called Burning Sun, the song is in fact a much more tender balance between warmth and cool breeze.

With the chorus singing ‘we’re not scared to try’ the song instils
a hopefulness as you listen. It’s a nomadic song that looks toward the endless wonders and possibilities in the journey ahead. Pryor wrote Burning Sun while touring the US with the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra, inspired by the roads and landscapes that enveloped him along the long drives between shows. In fact, the single’s music video, directed by Pryor, composites his own phone footage of these journeys.

The song has a longer run at almost 6 minutes in length, which on my first few listens had me feeling like there wasn’t enough of a narrative or dynamics to warrant this duration. However, the more I listened and relaxed with it, the more it all seemed to fit. The subtle build-in of the guitar in the second half is the flickering sunlight that filters through between wavering branches of leaves and breaks the coolness of the casting shadow.

Burning Sun is the latest addition to the debut album from Wellington supergroup Congress Of Animals (who contribute to the instruments on this single). Their album Luxury Motel for Cats – due out December 7, 2018 – will feature singles from fellow Congress members Justin ‘Firefly’ Clarke (Fly My Pretties, The Woolshed Sessions), Nigel Collins (Flight of the Conchords, Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra), Bret McKenzie (Flight of the Conchords) and Ben Lemi (TrinityRoots, Dawn Diver, French For Rabbits).