Anarchist Gospel by Sunny War
“I feel like there are two sides of me,” says the Nashville-based singer-songwriter and guitar virtuoso known as Sunny War. “One of them is very self-destructive, and the other is trying to work with that other half to keep things balanced.” That’s the central conflict on her fourth album, the eclectic and innovative Anarchist Gospel, which documents a time when it looked like the self-destructive side might win out.
Extreme emotions can make that battle all the more perilous, yet from such trials Sunny has crafted a set of songs that draw on a range of ideas and styles, as though she’s marshaling all her forces to get her ideas across: ecstatic gospel, dusty country blues, thoughtful folk, rip-roaring rock and roll, even avant garde studio experiments. She melds them together into a powerful statement of survival, revealing a probing songwriter who indulges no comforting platitudes and a highly innovative guitarist who deploys spidery riffs throughout every song.
Because it promises not healing but resilience and perseverance, because it doesn’t take shit for granted, Anarchist Gospel holds up under such intense emotional pressure, acknowledging the pain of living while searching for something that lies just beyond ourselves, some sense of balance between the bad and the good.
Tracklist
| 1. | Love's Death Bed | 3:00 |
| 2. | No Reason | 2:39 |
| 3. | Shelter And Storm | 2:40 |
| 4. | I Got No Fight | 4:59 |
| 5. | Swear To Gawd | 2:49 |
| 6. | Earth | 3:23 |
| 7. | New Day | 3:21 |
| 8. | Baby Bitch | 2:57 |
| 9. | His Love | 2:32 |
| 10. | Hopeless | 4:57 |
| 11. | Higher | 3:24 |
| 12. | Test Dummy | 2:25 |
| 13. | Sweet Nothing | 7:08 |
| 14. | Whole | 3:19 |
Credits
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Produced by Andrija Tokic
Engineered by Andrija Tokic at The Bomb Shelter (Nashville, TN)
Assistant Engineer: John Tellmann
Mastered by Dave Gardner at Infrasonic Mastering (Los Angeles, CA)
Photography: Joshua Black Wilkins
Cover Art: April Bey
Cover art inspired by Joshua Black Wilkins photo
Package Design: Matt Etgen
Management: Andrew Rossiter & Mitch Rossiter
Booking: Chris Rusk, Prater Day
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All songs written by Sunny War
Sunny War Music (BMI)
except
“Swear To Gawd” written by Sunny War and Chris Pierce
Sunny War Music (BMI) / Chris Pierce Publishing (ASCAP)
and
“Baby Bitch” written by Aaron Freeman and Michael Melchiondo
Browndog Music (BMI) c/o Downtown DMP Songs
and
“Hopeless” written by Van Hunt
Baboons In The Arthouse Music (BMI) c/o Grow Your Own Music / Dione Yvette Music c/o Sony / ATV Songs LLC
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Musicians:
Megan Britt Coleman
Jack Lawrence
Dennis Crouch
John James Tourville
Jo Schornikow
Billy Contreras
Maureen Murphy
Nickie Conley
Kyshona Armstrong
David Rawlings
Allison Russell
Jim James
Chris Pierce
Micah Nelson
School Zone (Children’s Choir) - Drew Carroll, Alec O’Connell, Sam Hoffman
Jim James appears courtesy of ATO Records
David Rawlings appears courtesy of Acony Records
Allison Russell appears courtesy of Fantasy Records
Micah Nelson appears courtesy of Overseas Artists Recordings
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License
All rights reserved.
Sunny War is more than just an artist; she is a force of nature that is tough to pin down. What exactly is her style? Blues or punk? Yes, she may be a Robert Johnson with a shot of Bad Brains, but even this description falls short. The only way to really know Sunny is to immerse oneself in the music. Easy enough, right?