Back with their new EP, ‘Empire’, Velvet Sun has never been a band to chase trends. Emerging from the shadows of New York and now rooted in the heat haze of South Florida, their sonic identity is both timeless and temporal, crafted in the mould of overcast city streets and late-night reverie.
From the first moments of the title track, it’s clear Velvet Sun has fine-tuned its balance of melancholy and momentum. The guitars shimmer like headlights in fog, drifting between blissed-out textures and jagged propulsion. It’s a weightless track, like floating through a dream with your boots still on the pavement.
‘Wait’ follows with its chiming guitar lines and restrained percussion echoes the bittersweet ache of a youth spent chasing ghosts. There’s a breezy charm to it, melancholy wrapped in warmth. Then comes ‘Star’, which shows Velvet Sun developing from their shoegaze roots. With duelling guitars that sparkle and soar, the track conjures echoes of glitter-strewn stages and leather-jacketed singalongs. There’s a swagger here, a nod to rock’s golden era. They wear it lightly- never pastiche, always homage.
Closing out the EP, ‘Wonder’ is pure atmosphere. Drenched in reverb and layered with fuzz, it’s a track you don’t so much listen to as sink into. Weinkle’s vocals melt into the mix, becoming one with the swirling sonics- more feeling than form.
‘Empire’ feels like the band painting with all the colours at once- cool blues, smudged purples, bursts of gold. It’s Velvet Sun at their most confident: cinematic without being grandiose, intimate without being confessional.
For fans of music that sits in the space between dream and decay, Velvet Sun continues to carve out a sound familiar yet uniquely their own. ‘Empire’ builds on their past and expands it, brick by shimmering brick.