Here’s an album premiere that I’m really excited about.
It’s Sunlight by Imaginary Future (aka singer/songwriter Jesse Epstein).
This 11-track album is constructed to be a love letter to Epstein’s wife, the fabulous and also super-talented Kina Grannis.
I’m told there’s one song for each year of the relationship of these high school sweethearts, and all I can say is, “Awww.” Can’t get more romantic than that! Grannis makes a couple of guest appearances here, lending her sweet and clear vocals to the vibe.
I know what you’re thinking. Eleven love songs seems a bit redundant, but NO! Epstein knows how to mix it up from the gentle and sweet “We Are The Love We Give,” to the harder hitting and more electric, “You Bring Me Home,” and all points in between.
The album doesn’t feel thematic, just a collection of super-solid, optimistic and beautiful pop songs. Artful writing and some really wonderful production make Sunlight one for the permanent playlist.
Sunlight opens with the song “Forever,” an energetic anthem to the power of love. It features beautiful, clear vocals and a driving beat. It’s the kind of song that’s stuck in your head. You’re singing along from the get-go. It’s all good.
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“Love is Beginning” sounds like the perfect soundtrack cut. Strummy guitars, catchy hook, big singalong vocals. Made me want to pick up my guitar and play along!
Imaginary Future’s Epstein shares this insight, "For me, Sunlight is an exploration in happiness. Up until this album, I'd only recorded slow, melancholy music. I was fixated on winter, on the cold, on introspection. This record feels like a entirely new place to me, like I just got up and shook off the snow and found a beautiful day waiting for me on the other side. It's that feeling when you're in love and things are going your way and you just want to jump up and dance around and smile.”
Listen to the album here. And smile.
Sunlight was produced by Epstein and Richard Jacques and follows Imaginary Future's critically acclaimed and full length debut,Fire Escape. Released in 2013, the album received excellent reviews with iTunes saying the release served up "the kind of intimate, indie-folk flavored music that Fleet Foxes fertilized the indie-pop world with a few years ago."
Three months after releasing Fire Escape, Epstein married his high school sweetheart of eleven years, Kina Grannis. According to the singer, their wedding was an exhilarating marker of happiness and progress. In the months surrounding the occasion, Jesse reflected on how far he and Kina had come, how she shaped him, changed him and pushed him to become a better person every day. He owed everything to her and needed to express that. Thus came Sunlight, the 11-track album, his love letter to his new wife. Eleven songs, one for each year of their relationship.
Laura B. Whitmore is a music industry marketing veteran, music journalist and editor, writing for Parade.com,Guitar World, and others. She has interviewed hundreds of musicians and hosts the She Rocks Podcast. As the founder of the Women’s International Music Network, she advocates for women in the music industry and produces the annual She Rocks Awards. She is the Senior Vice President of Marketing for Positive Grid, making the world safe for guitar exploration everywhere! A guitarist and singer/songwriter, Laura is currently co-writing an album of pop songs that empower and energize girls.
