The Sunchymes - Emily Layne

The Sunchymes strike again! New track from Northampton's sunshine popsters!

Always good to have new music from HD faves The Sunchymes. While the title may strike you as a mash up of two of Syd Barrett's finest tracks the music owes more to Brian Wilson. Full of melodic twists, harmonies, neat guitar solo and that quirky chorus. It's a ray of sunshine for a cold February day. Yes I guess you could say I like it!

The Sunchymes is the brainchild of Aaron Hemmington, a Northampton-based music maker. 'Emily Layne' is the latest creation in an ever-growing catalogue of breezy yet intelligent, highly catchy psychedelic pop. You'll be pleased to know this is just the tip of a very cool iceberg (haha!), head over to The Sunchymes Bandcamp page to check out plenty of other great tunes. You'll be glad you did. Happy listening peeps!

The Sunchymes - Present...

(This review first appeared in issue 52 of Shindig! magazine)

 

The Sunchymes are a studio-based sunshine pop outfit from the distinctly unsunny environs of Northampton, and are a vehicle for the writing and arranging talents of auteur Aaron Hemmington. Their third album continues their ever more assured line in harpsichord and harmony laced soft-psych. Packed with Brian Wilson-esque melodies, chamber-pop arrangements and lyrics about parks, carousels and daydreaming, it makes for a pleasant, knowingly lightweight listen. The use of Mellotron strings and subtle phasing give the album a gently disorientating twist, though it's more psych that's safe for children than the full on lysergic experience.

'Time Will Tell' is typical of the fayre; breezy, upbeat and sugary. Despite lacking that killer song the album does a fine job in recreating a certain period charm and finely straddles the line between soft psychedelia and bubblegum. Abandon your alphabetical filing and stash this one between The Beach Boys' Friends and The Banana Splits LP.

The Sunchymes' debut album available for free download!

In a week when we've sadly lost Michael Brown of The Left Banke, it's of some comfort to know that his legacy will live on through the countless musicians he influenced. One of the better bands that understood his genius are Northampton's baroque-popsters The Sunchymes. The band's music is an effortless mix of '60s west cost sunshine pop, English psych, with gentle baroque touches and sumptuous vocal harmonies.

The band have recently made their 2009 debut album Shifting Sands available for free download via their Bandcamp page. Fans of The Beach Boys, psych-era Beatles, Jellyfish and indeed The Left Banke are well advised to check it out, along with the follow up album, 2012's Let Your Free Flag Fly. Enjoy!

Click here for The Sunchymes website.
Click here for The Sunchymes on Bandcamp.
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