Album & EP Reviews

Children of the Sün – Leaving Ground, Greet The End

Children of the Sün – Leaving Ground, Greet The End
Lovely Eyes Records
Release Date: 10/01/25
Review by Beth Morait
10/10

I can just about say I was a child of the 70s, having been born 10 days before the decade ended. But since childhood I was always told I had an old head on my shoulders, too. So I class myself fully as a child of the 70s, and am very partial to some throwback psychedelia from those sunshine times of Hippies, flares, and out-there thinking.

Luckily, Sweden’s Children of the Sün feel the same, despite only being youngsters! They’ve clearly got the same old head as me, and have managed to transport their sound perfectly back to those good old days, with their latest album release, “Leaving Ground, Greet The End”.

Album opener, ‘Sugar (Shape of a Gun)’ instantly sets the tone for the album.  A slightly fuzzed out tremelo guitar, and upbeat rhythms and bass sit below the floating vocals of leading lady Josefina Berglund Ekholm, with a shit ton of flange and echo thrown at it, and 60s/70s style harmonies. It conjures images of the hallowed fields of Woodstock ‘69, full of people smoking, dancing, plaiting flowers in their hair, and just having a great time.

Their latest single, ‘Lilium,’ follows. This is a slower ballad, and interestingly the harmonies and general feel in this track almost make me burst into Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’. It’s a beautiful song that ebbs and swells, with an acoustic section that has all the elements of a campfire rendition, with the setting sun in the backdrop. We also get treated to more incredible vocals as the song draws towards an end. It’s just beautiful. 

And this is very much how the album continues. It’s beautiful songwriting (done in a cabin in the woods with good old-fashioned pen and paper, according to the press release! I’m a huge fan of this, and if I ever get a chance to sit down at the piano to play or write, technology is left to one side, because a pencil and manuscript is all you need). Understated but perfect performances from all musicians, harmonies aplenty, catchy melodies, chilled out vibes, and skillful observations give this band a huge amount of authenticity. There’s even a bit in ‘Come With Us’ that to my geek brain sounds like they’re about to launch into the Red Dwarf theme music, which gives them an extra mark from me!!

They even chuck in a slowed down, and hippied-up version of Zeppelin’s ‘Whole Lotta Love’ – I didn’t even think it would be possible to make this song more synonymous of it’s time, but clearly I was wrong. It’s genius! 

The final track on the album ‘Gateway,’ is just stunning. And I can hear so many of the greats in their early days coming through in this. The harmonies are absolutely beautiful, the semitonal descending switching from major to minor is

I could listen to Children of the Sün all day, every day, and never get bored, so this is going to be my first, and quite possibly easiest, 10/10 score for 2025. I’m very glad that I’ve discovered them now, and can revisit their back catalogue at will. And (I can’t quite believe I’m saying this, this early in January) I can see “Leaving Ground, Greet The End” featuring pretty high up on my Album Of The Year list for 2025

‘Sugar (Shape of a Gun)’ Official Video:

TRACKLISTING:
01. Sugar (Shape of a Gun)
02. Lilium
03. Starlighter
04. Come With Us
05. Glaskogen
06. Lovely Eyes
07. Whole Lotta Love
08. Gateway  

LINKS:

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