Sunset World by Sun Kin

Los Angeles always seems on the precipice of being annihilated by a solar flare or some other apocalyptic event—the sun shines a little too brightly, the winds bring discontent, the ocean seems ready to rise up and swallow the desert. Sun Kin’s Sunset World fits into the great tradition of apocalyptic LA pop albums from Steely Dan’s Gaucho to Frank Ocean’s Blonde, opening with a front-row seat to Armageddon that a big window only makes more cinematic.

Sun Kin is the project of LA musician Kabir Kumar, also of GUPPY, whose taste for velveteen production and lush baroque-pop arrangements contrasts mischievously with their streak of gallows humor and social consciousness, at times recalling the fanciful yet principled music (and binary-agnostic, post-genre spirit) of Stereolab’s Laetitia Sadier. Kumar creates a world of undeniable beauty shot through with apocalyptic anxiety. There’s always a mushroom cloud on the horizon, an evil wind bringing smoke and disease, a pollutant miasma disguised as a sunset.

Kumar wrote many of these songs in collaboration with their partner, writer and climate activist Nicole Levin, and indeed Sunset World is one of Sun Kin’s most collaborative works, featuring artists from across the DIY ecosystem including Kumar's bandmates in GUPPY. Julian Fader of Ava Luna, Dawson Timpany of Plum, and Mark “Echo” Edwards of fellow indie-pop social critics Cheekface perform drums, rooting Kumar’s richly hued symphonies in a strong rhythmic basis in disco, funk, hip-hop and Prince-ly pop: genres Kumar has explored in depth in the past, notably on 2021’s dancefloor epic After the House.

Sunset World plays with the dichotomy between the beauty and terror of the natural world and the convenience of the virtual one, most hilariously on “Water Turns Black At Night,” inspired by the DJ Khaled lost-on-a-jetski viral video that brought together the crushing horror of the universe’s vastness and the ridiculousness of celebrity culture in one perfectly absurd moment. “One of my first fears was a fear of the dark,” says Kumar. “I think that song is encouraging myself to step into the darkness to sit with the part of myself that’s scared and comfort them instead of telling them it’s not okay.”

Sunset World might sound like a bitter pill to swallow, but its lighter moments conjure a utopian future that exists in stark contrast to capitalist hell—imagine drinking lemonade in the ruins of a WeWork, loitering happily with no obligation to spend money. “This album is very interested in a world that might not exist outside our minds but that we might be able to conjure into existence,” says Kumar. “It feels to me like the natural progression of a project that’s always been about not choosing between two things—dichotomies don’t exist, genres are fake, and everything connects to everything.” - Daniel Bromfield

Tracklist

1.	Big Window	3:39

2.	I'm in the Band	2:55

3.	Just Double Checking	3:13

4.	Fave Please	2:13

5.	Til I'm Whole	2:58

6.	All the WeWorks Are Dead!	3:13

7.	Small Gestures (ft. Maya Abee)	3:13

8.	Doom Scroll	2:24

9.	Sunset World	2:20

10.	Water Turns Black at Night	2:36

11.	I Wanna Believe	2:25

Credits

released April 19, 2024

(music written between November 2020-February 2023)

All songs written by Kabir Kumar
Except "I'm in the Band" music written with Miguel Gallego & lyrics written with J Lebow
"Just Double Checking" "Til I'm Whole" and "Doom Scroll" lyrics co-written with Nicole Levin

All tracks produced by Kabir Kumar and mixed by Geoff Saba
Except "I'm in the Band" produced and mixed by Sarah Tudzin
Mastered by Dan Thorn at Pink Noise Studios
Additional engineering by Greg Cortez on 3, 7
Additional engineering by Geoff Saba on 1, 3, 10, 11
Additional engineering by Julian Fader on 1, 4, 7, 11

Cover photo taken by Rachel Ben-Menachem

THE PLAYERS:

Kabir Kumar - vocals, guitars, bass guitar, synths, samples, drum programming
Geoff Saba - piano, acoustic guitars, alto & tenor saxophone, drums (on 1, 3, 10 & 11)
Miguel Gallego - guitars, fretless bass, organ, horn chart (on 1, 3, 7, 9 & 11)
Julian Fader - drums, percussion (on 1, 4, 6 & 11)
J Lebow - vocals (on 1 & 2)
Marc Babcock - bass guitar, vocals (on 2 & 7)
Bryan Lovett - bass guitar (on 5 & 6)
Ian Cohen - drums, vocals (on 2)
Sarah Tudzin - vocals (on 2)
Juliana Chahayed - vocals (on 3)
Dawson Timpany - drums (on 3)
Tyler English - pedal steel (on 3)
Mo Troper - acoustic guitar (on 4)
Natrina Gandana - vocals (on 5)
John Steiner - guitars (on 6)
Mark ‘Echo’ Edwards - drums (on 7)
Maya Abee - vocals (on 7)
Maxime Stinnett - clarinet (on 8)
Jesse Turits - banjo (on 8)
Leah Stone - clarinet (on 9)
Phil Di Leo - Casio (on 9)
Cam Johnson - tambourine, shaker (on 11)

Many, many thanks to my parents, and to Jake, Katie, Josh, Leah, Craig, Kat, Styles, Ken, Dan, and everyone else I bugged with versions of songs before they became the Real versions. And the deepest gratitude to the musicians who played with me. There is certainly no doubt about it, making music together is love.

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