Sun, Sun, Sun - SP701

Sun, Sun, Sun is the rope-strong, luminous follow-up to The Elected’s critically acclaimed 2004 debut, Me First. Recorded largely in motel rooms while singer/songwriter Blake Sennett was on tour with his other band, Rilo Kiley, the album is propelled by the kind of unsettled, exploratory impetus that is only native to the American open road. While portions of the album were formed in proper studios like the all-analog Hard Drive studio in Southern California, Sennett, along with bandmate Mike Bloom, recorded and produced the majority of this masterfully soulful creation in environments they were passing through. And, it’s evocative of those places and perspectives: “I’ll listen to it and think, “That was recorded in a hotel in Missoula! That, we did in the van!” The dichotomy between feeling completely at home and at the same time homeless on the road fuels Sennett’s biting, reflective lyricism and grand, sweeping compositions — after all, out there, there’s plenty of time to reminisce and look forward. At times treating grit with slide guitar, tambourines and kid gloves (“It Was Love”), and at other times spitting heart-wrenching declarations with grace (“I’ll Be Your Man”, “Did Me Good”), Sun, Sun, Sun is Sennett’s newest gem.

Released: 2006-01-24 (CD), 2006-01-24 (LP)