Hello, Dear Readers! Hope you are all having a splendid Thursday.

Yesterday I told you about this weekend’s Mojave Experience festival taking place Friday and Saturday in the California desert.

Well today, I’d like to call your attention to another group who will be making an appearance in the Yucca Valley this Friday night (20 March): SoftSun, a collaboration between Norwegian bassist/vocalist Pia Isaksen (also known for her solo act Pia Isa as well as being a member of Superlynx (reviewed here) and Californian guitarist Gary Arce (whose other band Yawning Man will ALSO be at the Mojave Experience on Saturday) with the trio rounded out by a different drummer on each of their first two albums.

SoftSun – Daylight in the Dark (Ripple Music, 08 November 2024)

SoftSun – Eternal Sunrise (Heavy Psych Sounds, 07 November 2025)

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The band’s 2024 debut starts out with a heavily fuzzed-out bassline and punchy drums underpinning layers of wailing feedbacky guitar — which soon give way to Isaksen‘s dreamy melodic vocals. Ever since the terms were invented, there has always been confusion about what exactly constitutes shoegaze versus dream pop, but here SoftSun absolutely straddle that line, blurring any semblance of distinction. This pretty much sets the stage for the remainder of Daylight in the Dark: a lovely amalgam of heavy rhythm section, spacey guitars, and ethereal vocals. Closing track “Soft Sun” — by far the longest at over eleven minutes — still employing fuzzy bass and layered guitar, tends to go even more over-the-top (in a good way) in building up the wall-of-sound concept, coming across as almost orchestral or symphonic in its vast arrangement.

Last year’s follow up Eternal Sunrise continues in a similar vein, while tending to lean a bit more into the slow chillwave, ambient-dreamy-droney side of things. While still retaining elements of shoegaze and psychedelia like its predecessor — the guitars are mildly distorted or overdriven, and the vibe remains heavy simply due to the multiple layers piled up — this album overall falls slightly more on the mellow end of the spectrum. At times I’d say almost Earth-like (complimentary). “Sleep the Day Away” is especially drenched in reverb and gorgeous melodies, being probably the most shoegaze-forward track here, with the familiar feedbacky guitar that occasionally washes over.

Once again, a quick reminder, if you’ll be in the Southern California area over the next few days, details about the Mojave Experience can be found here, and know that I’m jealous of what looks like it’ll be an amazing time out in the desert.

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Buy Daylight here (digital – US), here (CD/vinyl – US) here (digital/CD – NO; vinyl copies are sold out).
 
Find Sunrise here (digital/CD/vinyl – US), here (CD/vinyl – EU), or here (digital – NO)
 

SoftSun: Bandcamp
Ripple Music: website | Bandcamp
Heavy Psych Sounds: website | Bandcamp | YouTube