Review: Sunshine Faces - Letting You Know
By Sarah Weingarten, Contributor
[Little L; 2015]
Rating: 2.5/5
Key Tracks: “Ephemeral,” “Catfish Donahue”
It is only apt that Sunshine Faces release Letting You Know right as the sun is slowly teasing the cold weather away. This dreamy bedroom pop album straddles the line of fuzzy vocals and clean music production, making it a must listen, but maybe not a must have.
The front half of Letting You Know is definitely the weaker part of this collection. The first five songs don’t hold up in comparison to the final five, as the latter pieces have more originality and punch. They carry the record, while the opening segment just drags on.
The title track is literal mumbles. Like when someone only remembers the end of each line in a song and sings that part the loudest. Don’t try to look up the lyrics on bandcamp because it just says “hahahaha.” It’s really funny, but really unhelpful when trying to analyze a song.
“Linger” can also be skipped over. The psychedelic hazy sound accompanied by whisper-soft lyrics just doesn’t contribute anything. The album would have been better off if Sunshine Faces just cut this track.
“Catfish Donahue” is short, sweet and about a friendship that has come to an end, possibly due to a death. The lyrics are just surface-scraping emotional, but Noah Rawlings’ scratchy muffled vocals help convey something more. His voice creates depth and the sense that maybe there are deeper feelings of sadness behind the child level vocabulary. “Kyle the name sticks in my throat and / I love you the most and / I miss you the most / I won’t let us drift apart / Cause you’re in my heart.”
The longest yet loveliest tune is “Ephemeral.” There is nothing quite like sad lyrics sung happily to an upbeat tune. The sadness is built up and appropriately ends with Rawlings shouting to take him to a place where God loves him. The best line in this song, and entire album, is definitely right before the hook: “Child be wild / But now there is no Kyle / I’m 16 / I’m ugly / I think that I hate me.”
Overall, Letting You Know is an easy listen. It has no shocking or outlandish musical composition or lyrics, but that is the point. Sunshine Faces is about simple music and short but meaningful lyrics. The last five cuts showcase how effortlessly Rawlings can vocalize universal teenage feelings.
