Photo by Leigh Violet
In the riptide of this life
Would be so nice
Just to know what tomorrow will bring…
It’s been nearly three-and-a-half years since the release of SRSQ’s solo debut Unreality, and just as long since the release of Amends, the final parting gift from her band Them Are Us Too. Following her last release, the 2020 stand-alone alone single “Temporal Love”, SRSQ returns with “Someday I Will Bask in the Sun”, the first track from her forthcoming second studio album due out this spring via Dais Records.
SRSQ (pronounced seer-skew), the solo moniker of Kennedy Ashlyn, is an artistic force of nature. With her formidable talent channeled through a multi-octave range and uncanny knack for aural poetry, her music is as beautiful as it is distinct and emotionally powerful.
In the years since the release of Them Are Us Too’s debut Remain, which features the shimmering euphoric anthem “Eudaimonia”, Kennedy’s life has been fraught with tragedy and personal struggles. However, her anguish is expressed within the dynamic range of emotions she cathartically transmutes through her captivating music, with a repertoire of songs that soar, quiver, quake, and rage—from the depths of darkest sorrow to the heights of illumination.
In this new composition, “Someday I Will Bask in the Sun”, Kennedy explains that the track is meant to be “a song of reflection, acceptance, and the possibility of hope. It is about coming to terms with the inevitability of harsh emotional cycles without subscribing to a predication of doom. The song reflects on the perpetuity of turmoil, but embodies the notion of surfing – rather than being pummeled by – an ever crashing wave.”
With a break beat drum and bass sound, accented with sighing strings, and a buzzing/horn guitar chimera that refrains the vocal melody, the song is unlike any of Kennedy’s previous material, yet feels like a natural progression. The sound expands and transitions from the gauze-like fantasies of Cocteau Twins to the buoyant summer daydreams of The Sundays, run through a distinctive late 90s filter. Her vocals are crisp, vibrant, soaring, and fluttery, and yet brimming with wistful sorrow—ready to be shed as a prelude to a brighter dawn for her and us all.
Listen to “Someday I Will Bask in the Sun” below:
“Someday I Will Bask in the Sun” was produced by Chris Coady (Beach House, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio) and is the first taste of what is sure to be one of the best albums on the horizon this spring.
In the meantime, listen to the song now via Dais Records, and across all digital platforms.
Stream the song here.
SRSQ will be touring in Europe and the UK this spring with RIKI.
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