Unlike a lot of modern musicians, it is hard to corral the music of Sun Glitters into a specific genre. Rather than coming away puzzled, however, many listeners will be all the more intrigued after listening to this act. Sun Glitters is the summer-loving alias of Portuguese dream-pop musician, Victor Ferreira, who released his acclaimed debut album, Everything Could Be Fine, in 2011. After two years of playing across European festivals and littering his path with an array of EPs and remixes, Sun Glitters now presents his awaited sophomore LP, Scattered Into Light. An album that continues Ferreira’s attraction to meddling with pop melodies, Sun Glitters summons a banquet of futuristic R&B and showcases a talent to rival the likes of Washed Out.
For readers who are unacquainted with the Luxembourg based musician, Sun Glitters sounds like a fusion between art and science. There is a synthetic sheen to his music and at times, Scattered Into Light sounds like it was cultivated in a lab as Ferreira frosts the album in hiccupping melodies and the icy moan of synths. These sub-zero temperatures are combated by bursts of humid dream-pop, which Ferreira slips between his songs to provide warmth. There is heart to this album if you know where to look. For example, the eerie vocals and ghostly techno Ferreira layers into “Three, Four Days” is beautifully contrasted with the Mediterranean dance-club vibe on “Soft Breeze”; a song that will hook listeners with its hypnotic repetitions and silky samples. Like these songs, each track on Scattered Into Light is polished to a pristine gleam, swaying between pulses of bubbling bass guitar and the clinical inflections of keyboards.
Alongside his chilly electronica, Sun Glitters folds hip-hop and deep house techno into his new album, a sound reminiscent of dark-wave musician, oOoOO. The album’s opening track, “When the Train Comes”, is a perfect example of glitch pop whilst Ferreira’s textured beats on “Closer to the Sun” conjure a celestial, trip-hop rhythm. Sun Glitters is also aided by Italian singer and Diverting Duo frontwoman, Sara Cappai, whose vocals bring a haunting quality to the album. The involvement of Cappai especially complements the new-age glitter of “I, You, We… Know”, which weaves the singer’s feathery and feminine vocals with Ferreira’s ominous vocoder. These starry-eyed vocals and Balearic-influenced beats may bring comparisons to Swedish pop band, Postiljonen but that doesn’t make the album any less enjoyable. Just listen to a song like the stunning “Lonely Trip” and you will be bowled over by Sun Glitters’ vision.
What makes Scattered Into Light the best release from Sun Glitters is how it hits listeners on a subtle, almost subconscious level. Although you can hardly make out what Cappai is singing and may be baffled by Ferreira’s chopped-up melodies, his arrangements will transport you to a plane where fantasy and reality merge. You will realise after a few songs that Sun Glitters’ music isn’t about the surface, but what ripples beneath; what you hear when you take away the mundane trappings of everyday life and are left with dreams and wishes. The album’s elegant title track “Scattered Into Light” is one of Ferreira’s most emotive songs, as it skates across a canopy of electronic sounds and ends with a gorgeous instrumental. Another brilliant song is “Feeling Young”, a piece of sparkling music that sounds like it is being caressed by waves. Likewise, a track that will bring listeners closer to the nostalgic realm Sun Glitters inhabits is the Grimes-esque “Only You,” which winds around lovelorn echoes and pining utterances.
In a world ruled by embarrassing Kanye West music videos and Lady Gaga’s overblown pop manifesto, it’s nice to know that artists like Victor Ferreira still exist. The music of Sun Glitters shows listeners that subtlety is still an art form, as Ferreira distils his music with an enigmatic touch and a dreamer’s mindset. Indeed, Scattered Into Light is an album that separates listeners from reality as Ferreira creates an illusion of dancing on clouds or delving onto the ocean floor. Obvious comparisons can be made to other electronic artists, but Ferreira still manages to craft his own niche by painting a gorgeous swirl of ambient chillwave and synth-glossed dream-pop. If you’ve never listened to Sun Glitters before, Scattered Into Light is a sumptuous introduction. - Unrecorded |
1XLP/Not Yet Released