ONE HUNDRED SUNS: I’ve been meaning to post about this Oxford, England band since I received their newest album in the mail. I’ve been playing it endlessly. Jonquil will release, “One Hundred Suns”, on November 16, 2010, via Dovecote Records. I know the press release and a few quotes have pegged this band as folk-pop or electro-folk, but I don’t think that’s exactly what’s going on here. The band’s rhythms are largely island-based, with pretty harmonic vocal swells. They mix tight electric guitar swirls with a number of jazzy eclectic elements — reminiscent of a cross between an upbeat Sam Prekop and Paul Simon circa “Graceland”. The lead singer’s voice gives Jonquil’s sound a nostalgic 80s feel. The best part of “One Hundred Suns” is a quartet of standouts in the middle of the record, “It Never Rains”, “Pillow Quest”, “Compound” (with its delicious Bon Iver-styled high falsetto) and “I Know I Don’t know”. The latter pushes forward on the back of intricately played high-pitched guitar. The band plays music in slight shades of sunny yellow, as their name suggests. This is music for good times. There are a lot of danceable grooves and a noticeable appreciation for old-school synth-pop, and the Talking Heads. “One Hundred Suns” has an elegance all its own. Needless to say, I love this entire record. Jonquil is a band to watch. Note: Jonquil is Sam Hudson Scott, Hugo Manuel, and Robin McDiarmid. Upcoming shows: Today in Liverpool at the Shipping Forcast; Nov. 17 in Sheffield at The Harley; Nov. 18 in Cardiff at the Cardiff Art Insitute; Nov. 19 in Oxford at Jericho and Nov. 20 in Nottingham at Spanky Van Dyke’s. — David D. Robbins Jr.
Jonquil “Compound”
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