Sonnymoon comes to Earth

Sonnymoon’s ‘Bio’ page on Plug Research’s website (Plug Research being their record company, an independent west coast label) includes the information that Sonnymoon is a duo consisting of Anna Wise and Dane Orr, and also that they’re aliens sent from the planet Sonnymoon to help earth figure its problems out. Their eponymous record released in May of this year definitely has an otherworldly vibe—dreamy experimental-synth, deep, hypnotic bass tones, washed-out fx, and on one track jazz drums and bass that sound caught off a radio station 10,000 miles away. Anna Wise’s vocals, though, keep reminding me of Rihanna. She has a soulful, hip-hop influenced style, and she’s a really powerful singer, especially on the second track, ‘Greatness’, below. – Geoff Noble