Big Long Sun – ‘love songs and spiritual recollections’ album review: Another rapid-fire expansion of a promising repertoire
After a string of three albums in as many years, Brighton‘s Big Long Sun have made it explicitly clear that they’re not messing around. The urgency with which the octet have been laying down their ideas and presenting them to the world has been nothing short of astonishing, and their third effort, love songs and spiritual recollections, is a call to anyone who has failed to pay attention yet.
The Skinny: Despite having initially served as the solo vehicle of songwriter and vocalist Jamie Broughton, Big Long Sun has rapidly found itself morphing into something more akin to the frenetic nature of their live shows; a place where no idea is challenged and the coming together of minds proves to be the prevailing force. However, while more of the eight members have played their part on love songs, the way the album appears to present itself is as one final example of how Broughton’s erratic and diverse tastes can function without external input, and does so with aplomb.
Where the band’s earlier albums straddled bedroom pop, psychedelia and boisterous art rock, love songs is arguably the most focused effort from the project to date, with all of the songs taking a more reserved route that explores traditional singer-songwriter styles and unfussy folk instrumentation. There’s possibly a lot to be said about bands in their infancy being better off sticking to what they know, but in this instance, they evidently know what they’re doing regardless of how it ends up being presented.
Songs don’t frantically skitter from one style to another and instead focus on getting the basics right, with opener ‘such a lovely day’ being more of a tone-setter rather than a highlight out of the gate. Once you work your way into the album and reach the centre, it then becomes easier to understand the approach that the band have taken, with songs often following basic structure, and relying on sudden melodic left-turns and surprises to offer up the biggest moments of bliss.
Despite there being a ‘60s and ‘70s flavour to the record, the most noticeable touchstones come from more recent times. ‘heavy (on your mind)’ has many of the marks of a songwriter like Ty Segall when operating in his more subdued mode, while ‘another situation with you’ has elements of Andy Shauf and Of Montreal squeezed in. Neither of these songs are overtly complicated, but it’s the attention to detail and ability to forge brilliance from straightforwardness that makes them sublime.
Yes, there are moments where fuller arrangements would benefit the record, but they’ve proven they can do that on their two previous albums, so why bother showcasing that again? As the project allows itself to adapt to life as a fully-fledged eight-piece with all of the additional members having an increased capacity to contribute, it will likely become easier for it to stop resembling a collection of well-done bedroom recordings made as tributes to all the artists that they worship. As it stands, it’s still pretty magnificent, and another compelling set of songs from one of the most effortlessly inventive groups on the UK circuit.
Standout Track: ‘a way out’
The Verdict: Big Long Sun as one person doesn’t seem to be short of ideas, and that’s a good thing. Add another seven loads of ideas into the mix, and the results are going to be frightening. Watch this space.
Release Date: April 22nd, 2026 | Producer: Jamie Broughton | Label: state51
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