Self Awareness, Celestial androids and Senegal: Sonny and the Sunsets submit to sonic immersion.

The questions of “Are you too old to turn? Are you too young to burn?” have had a profound impact on folk indie listeners since 2009.

From the visionary voice of Sonny Smith, the namesake lead of Sonny and the Sunsets, ‘Too Young To Burn’ along with its umbrella album Tomorrow Is Alright attracted a cult-like following; one that has remained unwavering across the last sixteen years.

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The San Francisco outfit captured the vintage vibrations of another time and another place, whilst feeling entirely present to the early 2000’s setting. It’s this undefined era of sound and the accompanying message that continues to resonate so many years later.

“There’s a kind of nostalgic-sad-but-hopeful kind of vibration to it. However, it wasn’t something I was trying for. I was really into comics and I was trying to make songs that sounded like comic tales… songs with characters and occasional dialogue… death cream, planet of women, strange love, love among social animals, stranded like little sci-fi comic strips. That was my intention,” Smith explains.

“However, ‘Too Young To Burn’ was more like a message to myself to stay true, to stay engaged with life, even though sometimes it feels futile. A kind of “don’t give up” message. People resonated with that – some kids tattooed it on their arms and walked out of their shit job together. A few things like that happened. It wasn’t until after looking back I could see past the surface was something about struggle, hope, staying true, being real, that kind of stuff.”

Exactly two years ago, at the time of writing, Sonny and the Sunsets released their most exploratory work to date, an album titled Self Awareness Through Macrame. As the name suggests, the body is Smith in his most self-aware stage of songwriting. It acts as a bookend to the Tomorrow Is Alright journey.

“I think it’s a companion piece to Tomorrow is Alright, it’s got a similar kind of nostalgic vibration to me. It’s a little bit about hope in the dark, with some celestial androids and street dogs popping in here and there,” says Smith.

Smith took a segway with the Sunsets format in 2024, heading to Senegal for a sonic exploration which saw him submerge himself in music making during the day, and watching episodes of Friends on his phone in the evening to help process the scope of creativity. The result is his upcoming offering to fans.

 

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“I went to Senegal and made a record with Senegalese musicians. It was an experience. They all brought their own weirdness to the music. One musician had a real arabic style while another was very West African, the bass player was very post-punk type bass, the drummer was very funk. And I just did what I do; the kind of limited garage-ish guitar-ness.” 

He continues, “They didn’t speak English and I didn’t speak Wolof. We just communicated through recording. It’s definitely not a representation of authentic Senegalese music! It’s a representation of a bunch of interesting musicians making some wild stuff. It will come out later November. I dig it – it’s Sunsets but it’s the New Unknown Cosmoramic Sunsets.”

The stint brought home the realisation that Sonny and the Sunsets has staying power regardless of the format, regardless of the place, regardless of the time, and regardless of the universe in which the creativity stems. 

“Creatively, the operation is ongoing, regardless of record. It’s a lifetime assignment. The gig of life. The only job. To be me and not someone else. To be authentic. The tiring lifetime enterprise of clawing around in the dark to find something real.” 

Sonny and the Sunsets will be joining the Sound Doctor program, playing at their house venue Anglesea Memorial Hall on Saturday 4 October. The Sunsets will be made up of an all-star local lineup featuring Steph Hughes (Dick Diver, Boomgates), Shaun Gionis (The Green Child, Boomgates), and Mark Monnone (The Lucksmiths, Monnone Alone). 

Smith’s friends have requested the hits, “whatever that means”, so expect to explore the overwhelmingly large discography of Sonny and the Sunsets in all of its incarnations.

Tickets see Sonny and the Sunsets at Sound Doctor Angelsea can be purchased here.