It is tempting for me to spend a vast part of this review gushing over the Sunflower Thieves’ voices; I’ve done it before. But For now I’m just going to describe the vocals as gorgeously lush and, frankly, yummy (Is ummy a music review allowable word?).
Now to the thing I should have done first. For those of you who don’t know the Sunflower Thieves, they are a Leeds based indie folk-pop duo; although what any given song sounds like can float around this.
‘Overdose’ sounds more like vaguely folk influenced pop with a touch of Indie to me. I just wish it was enough to say that this is a great song whatever you preferred musical genre. Musically for the most part it’s all lightly plucked guitar, except for this frankly glorious blast of guitar that almost comes from nowhere but still makes so much sense it hurts.
One thing I’ve always thought is that the use of ‘pop’ in their music genre description doesn’t necessarily indicate the depth of their songwriting. They tackle some difficult issues in their songs. ‘Overdose’, co-written with Liv Greenlees, “is navigating the unique shift in your relationship with your parents when you no longer live at home; missing them, disappointing them, knowing them so well and being able to be their friend too”.
And, as a lyric, the song tells some universal truths that most of us can, in some way, relate to. These are compelling words that deserve really listening to. For me listening to the song I feel a degree of sadness that for a large part of my late teens and early twenties I withdrew from contact with my parents, and never really fixed that. Your feelings and reactions may of course not mirror mine.
‘Overdose’ is a truly beautiful song; great music, gorgeous voices and thoughtful compelling words.
