The Suncharms - Darkening Sky (2026)

The act of making music when you get older can be a special thing. You may lose a little of the intensity of youth, but perhaps you trade that for better focus and greater honesty. As individuals in a band, maybe you appreciate each other for what you bring to the whole just a bit more. On top of that, you no longer have to care what goes on outside your creative world; you understand that it really doesn’t matter.

For The Suncharms, their second act has also been a determined case of dealing with unfinished business. Once a band with no albums to their name, they now release their third in five years.

Darkening Sky comes with a real sense of making every second count, another motivation that often comes with age. Recorded and mixed by guitarist Matt, the whole album is alive with a sense of wonder. The sound is spacious and organic, and instruments are given room to breathe.

“Midnight Train” could rub shoulders with the best of Rain Parade, had they come from Sheffield instead of San Francisco. The trumpet sneaking in towards the end is typical of an indie pop record that doesn’t stay within predictable boundaries. It’s gorgeous, but it’s not alone.

Take the fascinating “Diamonds” with its unsettling arrangement: a skyscraping guitar part contrasts with the faint sound of a xylophone way back in the mix, while haunting backing vocals lend the song an otherworldly feel.

Then there are the immediate highs. “1000 Years” is one of those instantly uplifting songs that still drops a discrete dash of melancholy into its crystalline rush. Or the twinkling “Interstellar”, encapsulating the album’s themes of the search for beauty in the mundane, delivering it wrapped up in a tune that could surely have come from the pen of Edwyn Collins.

It soon becomes clear that The Suncharms have gathered together 12 strong, diverse songs that lock together to make that most elusive of creations: a record that flies by and reaches its conclusion all too soon.

In an age of AI, algorithms and corporate control, there is something particularly precious about listening to music demonstrably unconcerned with any pressure to play those games. Instead, Darkening Sky draws inspiration from the everyday and spins it into something beautiful. Its existence feels just a little bit miraculous and definitely deserves your attention and, before long, your love.

- by Simon Heavisides