Review | “June in Her Eyes” (& more) by SepiaSound
An indie stalwart charms with a single of pastoral psychedelia and an LP of varied surprises.
SepiaSound is the project of veteran musician and composer Paul Stewart, who also works for TV, film, advertisement, and multimedia music.
During the late '90s, he was releasing music as Blueboy, with the Bristol-based indie guitar pop imprint Sarah Records, and later, as Beaumont, he released three LPs of vintage-sounding easy-listening pop on the Spanish Siesta label.
Now, as SepiaSound he's back with a stunning EP of pastoral folk psychedelia, following his eclectic LP., released in 2019.
“June in Her Eyes”, his latest release, is a three-track single that occupies a liminal space between the romantic soundscapes of GNAC, the acoustic bliss of Virginia Astley, and the melodic verve of Maurice Jarre.
Its all-too-short duration is dominated by jangling acoustic guitar, the swelling of synthetic strings, and a cinematic atmosphere that ranges from blissfully chilled-out to unapologetically sentimental.
Fragments of delicate piano riffs, poignant violas, and breathy flutes hover tentatively over the pastoral background, their contributions are elusive, until the final track, whose dramatic flair and intense chords close the EP with an assertive flourish.
“Drama Queens”, the debut LP by SepiaSound (released in 2019), sounds like a compilation of instrumentals by various artists, a structural quirk that makes up for its lack of aesthetic cohesion with its consistent quality and winsomely affectionate take on the many different genres represented by each of the tracks.
It's a record that could serve as the statement of one specific era, ca. the late ‘70s, early ‘80s, yet featuring bands from various scenes, each one proposing a different sonic ethos, their collective intention improbably standing on the tenuous common ground of youthful contemporaneity; conversely, it could be the statement of a solo artist out to prove his capacity for confidently composing and arranging in the differing styles of many different genres.
In any case, few musical choices remain constant throughout, the main denominator being a propensity for maximalist orchestration flaunted by the lush arrangements winsomely framing the simple melodic elements.
Touching upon many moods, the stylistic range is always mannered, from elegant easy-listening moments to baroque pop bursting with exuberant arrangements and sweet harmonies, in the grandiose vein of Mercury Rev, evoking the provocative theatricality of the Flaming Lips or even reclaiming the Beatles-on-MDMA orchestral excesses of E.L.O.
The mood becomes progressively more adventurous, to say the least, suddenly swerving towards early '80s power pop a la Echo and the Bunnymen and Orange Juice, adding just a touch of West Coast late '70s new wave stylings reminiscent of Martha and the Muffins or even taking a total detour from guitar-driven pop, suddenly flirting with the twisted bubblegum synth-pop of Sparks and the now completely forgotten electro-pomp of such marginal acts as Classix Nouveaux- the scope is so wide it even confidently accommodates a triptych of dramatic instrumentals whose brooding intensity would suit the most melodramatic movie soundtrack.
Somehow, this non-committal approach works despite its lack of cohesion, much in the pleasantly rambling manner that a collection of individually good short stories can offer, manifesting a multitude of approaches whose inventive variegation and abrupt thematic departures are as absorbing and moreish as any other page-turner whose subject remains constant throughout.
Far from an essay limiting its horizon within the confines of a single topic or a manifesto with a specific message, I would consider “Drama Queens” a record that emulates an idealized radio show, each track perfectly representing an anthology of favorite scenes, a playlist broadcasting from the mind of Paul Stuart, a musician whose initial enthusiasm for pop music in all its forms has not waned at all over the years but has matured to a point beyond tributary intentions, aiming for classic status.
It's honest music, but no less sophisticated for that, greeting the summer with a tender, youthful attitude and a playful smile – just the ticket for a perfect holiday playlist.
Text written by Panagiotis Chatzistefanou, Berlin, May 2024