With a new 4-track EP, Kingdom of the Holy Sun comes back with a bang.
The album starts abruptly with its first song, Man with the Little Hands.
It’s pretty obvious to me that the song is talking about a certain someone who happens to run our country. It immediately dives into lyrics, saying things like, “feeling like you’re a man.”
This song exemplifies what dominant male energy feels like, walking into a room, commanding all attention, and immediately asserting your importance. With a playful and jiggy tune, it covers the fact that the lyrics are an obvious statement on a certain president and his similar energy-ed supporters.
♪feeling like you’re the man
feeling like taking a stand♪
the man with the little hands
The synths and electric guitar take you into another realm, and tones of desert-y vibes pop up. The anthem then changes, and feels like it taps into a frequency that defines the word amplify.
It energizes and makes you feel powerful, but perhaps this sense of power is a farce… As easily as it is generated, it can disappear.
The next song, Des Yeux Vert, is groovy and funky. It reminds me of watching a sunset, a happy ending vibe. That same desert feel that showed up in the first track re-appears here.
All in all, it feels very sunny, giving that same energy you might get from soaking up a day in the sun.
Good vibes all around.
Hey hey hey is the next song on the track, and its got a bit of a country twang to it. It tempers the energy generated by the first two tracks, bringing things back down, much like the sun setting at the end of a day.
The track provides a lot of contrast within itself. The main chord progression switches from major to minor, inspiring the listener to sway back and forth between two different worlds.
It reminds you of balance.
It reminds you to breathe.
It reminds you that everything will be okay.
The vocals are soothing. You don’t even hear the lyrics at first, and instead, the vocals act as an airy instrument to complement the other sounds. Drums enter the scene to replace the voice for some grounding, amping effect, whereas the higher pitched, ethereal voice had you floating.
This song has a balancing effect, showcasing the spectrum of voices, sounds, and emotions, all in one song.
Finally, we close out with Over Under Down and Out. There is a lot going on in this song. It has your hips swaying along to the sounds, but it feels like there’s a subliminal message going on in the background.
Then, the song brings it all together for an anthem that it feels like you’re meant to sing along to. Unifying.
“Ooh, ya”s appear throughout the song, and they seem almost cacophonous. It doesn’t flow with the song and even conflicts with the tones of the song. But it does very much so feel like this was the artists’ intentions, to bring discord that is almost displeasing to the ear.
It represents life, where we will always encounter scenarios that are displeasing and chaotic, but we must press on anyways and appreciate the experience that it provides, just like appreciating this song.
Find comfort in discomfort.
That’s where you’ll find the most growth.
In the end, this EP by Kingdom of the Holy Sun is definitely worth listening to. It is groovy and energizing, but also very real and feels like a reflection of the times.
For a concise, 4-track EP, it feels complete and thorough. Go on, give it a listen!
Written by Steph Zhu for POW Magazine
