Every thought, from dawn to dusk
Sundays come with an inevitable state of haziness. They can be viewed as a reward at the end of a stressful week or the optimistic beginning of a new one. They may leave you feeling ambitious about the future or reflective of the past. Sundays, the debut full-length album from Tanukichan, parallels these complexities perfectly with its dreamy tunes and reflective lyrics. Tanukichan is the solo project of Hannah van Loon, who was raised on music and is a trained multi-instrumentalist. The Bay Area native made her way through multiple genres, from classical to bluegrass, and her time in the band Trails and Ways before joining forces with Chaz Bear of Toro Y Moi. Bear produced Sundays, and the two of them played every instrument laid out on the album.
“Lazy Love” kicks off the collection of ten tracks, and despite the title, the song is anything but lethargic. Immediately, van Loon’s angelic, distant vocals stand out. Although soft, her voice carries its own against the heavy verse as she angelically sings, “You know I’d do anything / Don’t you know I try my best / If I could wake up when the sun is rising / Oh, lazy love.” A chorus of fuzzy, electric guitar tears through the song, and van Loon’s vocals juxtapose the roughness. This track definitely leaves listeners with high expectations for the following tracks. The next track, “The Best,” introduces a different side of Sundays. Although the song still screams shoegaze, it has a much more nostalgic and haunting feeling. Once again, van Loon’s vocals (although not always easy to understand) are beautiful and now perfectly match the ambiance of the track.
The album reaches its peak intensity at the fifth track, “Hunned Bandz,” which showcases a hurricane of distorted, aggressive guitar. “Natural” is the beginning of the end as the album starts winding down in its forcefulness. The track is reminiscent of ‘90s The Smashing Pumpkins, but the distortions and fuzziness give it a grungier feel. Despite the organized chaos, the song is open and hopeful like a new beginning, or the start of a new week.
“The Blue Sky” is the softest and most ethereal track, starring van Loon’s gentle vocals and background synth. The magical whirlwind has van Loon caught in her deepest contemplations as she muses, “Is this what makes it right? / What can keep it sane?” before trailing off singing, “But all I wanted was / And all I wanted was” to the twinkling tune. “Perfect” stars guitar backed by van Loon’s barely-heard vocals. This shoegaze track showcases a danceable backing beat, veering further away from dream pop compared to the others. The album comes to a close with “This Time.” Van Loon ditches the guitar shredding for a more organic tune, seasoned with synth. She reflects on herself, pondering “Is my confidence in you unwise?… Maybe it’ll be worth it this time.” The song serves as a beautiful yet mysterious sunset to a roller coaster of a day.
After years of sampling different various musical paths, van Loon has found her niche. Sundays is a perfect debut album, giving ten tracks that perfectly fit together as a cohesive collection, in both music and message. Any random ten seconds from the album could be heard out of context and be easily recognized as Tanukichan. Yet, the tracks are still differentiated and stand out individually. While many artists’ debut albums are chaotic and without a common thread, Sundays sets the bar high for van Loon’s future projects.
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