It is almost sad to me that mp3s have become the prevalent format for listening to music today. We lose one of my favorite parts of discovering new music, the album cover. In my days of record store buying there have been many CDs I picked up just because of some interesting artwork. Some of these finds have led to discovery of great music. My eyes came across the album cover for In The Heart Of The Sun by Somnistatic today and I was instantly intrigued.
Somnistatic is the brain child of Matthew Sams, a Chicago native that has been involved in creating music since he was 7 years old. He is a self-taught musician that leans on his diverse guitar skills to create music that varies from classical based instrumentals to loud aggressive rock music. He focuses on the grandness of the music similar to bands like The Who or Smashing Pumpkins.
The album In The Heart Of The Sun was built through online collaboration with musicians Matthew knew from different parts of the country. Emailing mp3s and mixing it all together himself became the norm as he developed the album into a complete record. There is more than just quality instrumental technique on the album though. You hear this on songs like ‘Take Me Home’ where Somnistatic takes on the serious issues of media apathy and the fact that the propaganda cannot be trusted. Another song that pulled at my attention was ‘Burn’, a punk style rocker with a driving drum beat and some dirty guitar solo work, something missing in a lot of modern music. Atmospheric walls of sound are heard all over this album, in particular on the last track ‘Better Ask Again’. Simple guitar and vocal tracks are on top of an interesting windblown background that fills your ears with sound even on this easy listener.
Bottom Line: Somnistatic’s In The Heart Of The Sun is an album to listen to as well as take a look at. There is a song for every type of mood you are in and when you find it, it will make your day.
Enjoy it for yourself here:
http://somnistatic.bandcamp.com
The Video for Take Me Home was just uploaded HERE as well.