Sunflower Bean - Mortal Primetime 

Sunflower Bean have never fitted neatly into a box, and their fourth album, ‘Mortal Primetime’ makes that clearer than ever. Across its ten tracks, the band abandon any fixed notion of genre, weaving together elements of alt-rock, folk, and dreamy, blissful pop with remarkable ease. The album opens with grungy, distorted guitar chords reminiscent of Ramones (‘Champagne Taste’), only for ‘I Knew Love’ to pivot entirely, with lead vocalist Julia Cumming’s honeyed cries evoking Joni Mitchell. Elsewhere, ‘Please Rewind’ begins with plucky guitar lines that wouldn’t feel out of place on a Midwestern emo track, before Nick Kivlen’s vocals transform it into a folk-infused piece in the vein of Simon & Garfunkel.
Yet, instead of feeling disjointed, it’s in these sharp contrasts that ‘Mortal Primetime’ finds its greatest strength. The album emerges from a period of transition for the band, marked by Nick’s move to California, Julia’s break-up, and drummer Olive Faber immersing herself in a new project (Stars Revenge). But instead of fracturing, Sunflower Bean used these shifts as fuel, channelling their reinvention into an album brimming with fresh conviction. This sense of assuredness is evident throughout, from the searing guitar solo before the final chorus in ‘Nothing Romantic’ to Julia’s spectral vocals that carry ‘Look What You’ve Done To Me’. Even in the album’s quieter moments, whether that be the blissed-out, ‘60s-inflected ‘Waiting for the Rain’ or the dreamy, introspective ‘There’s a Part You Can’t Get Back’, the band exude a confidence that makes their genre-blurring approach feel effortless. 
‘Mortal Primetime’ doesn’t hold your hand or ease you into its sonic shifts. Instead, Sunflower Bean embrace this constant reinvention head-on with a record that only years of experience and an unshakable bond could produce.