Can two guitars fall in love? It sure sounds like it in City of The Sun’s newest record To the Sun & All the Cities in Between. Guitarists John Pita and Avi Snow show that when strings intertwine, a musical heart is born Their melodies are like the soft kisses between their instruments, with Zach Para giving a percussive base for love. When all sonics combine, listeners formulate a contemporary and beautiful relationship with this record, and see that this trio truly is like a wide, bright city of music upon the sun.
To the Sun & All the Cities in Between is like stunning landing into a fantastical world, to which, I can only associate with love. Maybe, their purpose was not as romantic, but this gorgeous record makes you so appreciative to love and how big it can make you feel. Like the sentiment, this album needs no words, just the vibrant, perfect pacing of Pita and Snow’s guitars and Para’s percussive pedestal as they support each other like a parent would a child or a lover would hold a partner. Hence, my questioning if two guitars can fall in love. Yet, again, the purpose of this record is not as much to show love but ignite it. Instead, City Of The Sun wants you to travel through rhythm into mindfulness, and with that you feel like their songs ignite a new sense of focus or perspective upon you.
Every album can make you think, but not every album makes you thoughtful. I am consistently fascinated by records that do not contain lyrics because I am obsessed with how words play together like children in the playground of sound. Thus, City of The Sun’s To the Sun & All the Cities in Between feels like a humbling, wise lesson into how music, in sound, can be universal in evocation. “Those Days Are Now” makes me feel like I am looking at the top of Machu Picchu in awe of the wide history of creativity that binds generations to their ancestors. Yet, in the title track, To the Sun & All the Cities in Between, feels like the vibrant, positivity inducing song I would play to feel fresh for a working day. These may seem like clashing visions, from the top of Machu Picchu to a packed work day, but they are not. To the Sun & All the Cities in Between is an album that takes you to another world so that you can, sonically, rediscover your own. It is so rejuvenating in sound that it can be played wherever and whenever, but especially when you need a spiritual “pick me up”.
The inspiring aspect of this record is that it can build a whole other dimension in one’s mind through light, lovely melodies that make you want to pay attention to your surroundings and yourself. Yet, this attention is far from negative. Instead, it moves a sense of analysis of one’s needs and desires to live their day fully. This is a strong effect for a record to have, but City of The Sun’s simple chord arrangements are invitations to your mind, and it is your own imagination that takes the welcome and hosts the radiant visions that proceed. Through pure guitar driven fantasies, music lovers are reminded that synthetics and electro sounds are great, but they do not have coined the idea of otherworldliness. Now more than ever, it seems that you need a synthesized beats to carry listeners to another world, but To the Sun & All the Cities in Between is a gorgeous reminder that smooth, elliptic acoustics can induce a deeper spell over listeners.
In times, when EDM, House, and Trap music are sky-rocketing in power and their synonymous definitions with virtual reality, To the Sun & All the Cities in Between comes as a quiet, magnificent remembrance to sheer instrumentals. No mix-tables here. Just three guys making magic through strings, and the great news is that they are on tour. For More Information On City Of The Sun And To Buy To the Sun & All the Cities in Between Click Here. Tour Dates Nov 26 New York, NY Blue Note Jazz Club Dec 04 Los Angeles, CA The Hotel Café Dec 05 San Francisco, CAThe Independent Dec 09 New York, NY Terminal 5
