"living in the summer of the sunsets on ice..."
The progressive soulful jazz-rock fused mysticism of "Pyrite Sun", by Hank West and the Pyrite Suns, is so densely packed with sounds and emotionally scorched textures that it makes for a heady listen. So heady that after each subsequent listen your brain might lock onto different musical shapes each time. At least I cannot help but zero in on the musicality of different instruments. The beautifully winding and unwinding bass lines, the syncopated stair stepping / hip hopping lead guitar lines, the propulsive piano, slapping / hammering drum work, what feels like xylophonic synths and horns as a framework for West's soulful crooning. So many things are happening that I admit that it is beyond my comprehension and I might be totally off on discerning what is happening with what instrument but that is ok. I bow down to the musicality in front of me. I am, not worthy.
LINER NOTES (excerpted / bracketed):
[West has recorded two solo albums previously, and this forthcoming record (out Oct. 17) will be his first with a brilliant new set of musicians he's dubbed the Pyrite Suns. The first single to emerge from the eponymous album is "Pyrite Sun," an angular, complex, musically jawdropping blend of Zappa-esque prog-rock, jazz and alternative R&B that stakes out some incredibly singular sonic territory.
The profound arrangement is undercut by West's ever-present sense of humor, and bolstered by his genuine sense of wonder. “'Pyrite Sun' is a song about a dude hanging out on the roof—like when you're young and you party on the roof and drink 40s and smoke blunts and watch the sunset. But in the song, it's a situation where there’s somebody you hope can also appreciate the experience, but instead they’re up there shouting, 'I'm a god—I'm making all this money and I'm the king of the world,” and it’s like, 'Bro, you don't have to do that up here. This is a place where people just hang out and chill.'"
The reason it’s named “Pyrite Sun,” West says, is because pyrite is known to crystallize with one side much more polished and defined than the others; they can be one-sided crystals. So the song reflects a sort of solipsistic attitude, with this ego-tripping protagonist being parallel to a one-dimensional chunk of pyrite. "Like, what happens when you live your life in an echo chamber, and the one person in your life with any influence is you?" West ponders.]
The profound arrangement is undercut by West's ever-present sense of humor, and bolstered by his genuine sense of wonder. “'Pyrite Sun' is a song about a dude hanging out on the roof—like when you're young and you party on the roof and drink 40s and smoke blunts and watch the sunset. But in the song, it's a situation where there’s somebody you hope can also appreciate the experience, but instead they’re up there shouting, 'I'm a god—I'm making all this money and I'm the king of the world,” and it’s like, 'Bro, you don't have to do that up here. This is a place where people just hang out and chill.'"
The reason it’s named “Pyrite Sun,” West says, is because pyrite is known to crystallize with one side much more polished and defined than the others; they can be one-sided crystals. So the song reflects a sort of solipsistic attitude, with this ego-tripping protagonist being parallel to a one-dimensional chunk of pyrite. "Like, what happens when you live your life in an echo chamber, and the one person in your life with any influence is you?" West ponders.]
"Pyrite Sun" exists on Hank West and the Pyrite Suns' self titled album.
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://www.instagram.com/snzippers/
https://soundcloud.com/hankwestofficial/04_pyrite_suns-4
https://www.theoriginalhankwest.com/
https://www.instagram.com/hankwestofficial
Hank West is the current saxophone player for the Squirrel Nut Zippers band. From New Orleans by way of Asheville. He has been playing hot jazz/surf rock for 8 years and has a NES.
"Pyrite Sun" is the new single from Hank West & the Pyrite Suns. Since its release, it has been featured at Fame Magazine, We Found New Music and Rival Magazine.
A bandleader, singer, songwriter, composer, trumpet player and multi-instrumentalist, Hank West is most well known for holding it down on saxophone the last two decades with swing / cabaret / gypsy-jazz revivalists the Squirrel Nut Zippers, who scored a major MTV hit with "Hell" in 1997, and have made a career out of it.
Hank West and Pyrite Suns, abstract music, hybrid fusion rock, blending jazz, indie rock alt rock, hot jazz, surf rock, soul, neo soul, "Pyrite Sun", Squirrel Nut Zippers, singer and multi-instrumentalist,
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