The Order of Nature, Sunny

Transcription of a conversation on the walk to Fadó Irish Pub.

JOE: How many times did you listen to the album?

SUNNY: I think my first time was yesterday, around noon-ish. Probably listened to it four times. Yeah, four or five. Listened to it the last time early this morning, and then I listened to a track or two before you got here. So not, like, a deep week of listening. Maybe a lot of these thoughts are gonna be fresh and fit, but, it is what it is.

JOE: I think there's an art to knowing what you think of an album after one listening. And I think that is built over time. And I also think that 250 weeks of writing album reviews in a row, I think you're there. So, I think we can trust these thoughts.

SUNNY: Perhaps. We can let it rip. Well, I'll say, my first blush impression—there was a bit of... disappointment is when expectation meets reality, and they mismatch, right? This album was billed as classical—

BEN: Hey guys!

JOE: Headed to the bar?

BEN: I'll walk with you. Just strolling around.

SUNNY: Killing time? We're on Locust, right?

JOE: Yes. Please excuse us. Interviewing Sunny about something, I'm sorry.

BEN: No, you're fine.

JOE: Just on the walk there.

SUNNY: And, ya know, when I hear "classical," I'm thinking Bach, I'm thinking Mozart, ya know, the big boys. Beethoven. Ironically, last week, a friend took me to the orchestra here in Philly. Which was great! They did this whole Vivaldi thing, they even added some new stuff. My point is... why is this classical? This came out in 2019. Is it "classical" just because there's an orchestra? There's that Simpsons episode where Cypress Hill comes out with an orchestra, is that classical music too? So, I mean, that maybe put me on the defensive a little bit. I also don't... Jim [James], I'm not as familiar with his work as I think a lot of the blog readers and writers are. Your sister being one. I think Gilson. Probably yourself. And even Pam's "Why She Chose It," which was like "Oh yeah, it's the guy—"

PASSERBY: [giving both middle fingers as he passes] Fuck Kamala Harris, and anyone who votes for her!

JOE: Aw, sorry man, I'm sorry you feel that way about me!

SUNNY: So, I mean, that's a great segue way, right? This thing comes out in 2019. It's got two elements I see. One of "classical," air quotes, combining with nature, spring, Vivaldi, that kind of thing. And also this whole pain/compassion thing. This was put out in the four years between trump being elected and COVID starting. A fun time for ideas. I think both of those are in there. My point of this whole build-up is, after the second or third listen, I think I softened to it. I kind of got what he was doing. And I started to enjoy it a lot more. The... oh, look at these boys.

DRANDERS: What's shakin'?

JOE: What up?

STEPHAN: Hey.

JOE: We'll be right there.

SUNNY: Just a little chat. Some quick drugs! The opening is a little slow. I think it's my second-favorite "Walking in the Snow" song that we reviewed for Record Club.

JOE: Run the Jewels, right?

SUNNY: Yeah.

JOE: Pure classical music right there.

SUNNY: See, yeah, that's classical. Ironically, both are going with the idea of pain, compassion, the human condition, versus nature, which is interesting. But then once it gets to the second track, "Here in Spirit," it gets a little catchier, and little more fun. It goes through some moods. I think "Human Touch" is a bit overwrought, "In Demand" is a bit catchy. Where I really start to like it is the track before... yeah, "Back to the End of the World," I think things start to pick up a little bit more, it's a little bit more fun. Which leads to the "Who Am I?" track, which has a Leonard Bernstein credit on it, which I thought was interesting.

JOE: Ah, yeah?

SUNNY: That's the one track that feels orchestral more than anything. Even such, he comes in and starts doing his whole singing thing. But it has that sort of "big feel." And then it ends with an audience clapping. Which I didn't even realize up until that point that this is a live album being recorded, ya know? So that seemed like an inflection point for the album, which brought me into it. I also don't know anything about Leonard Bernstein, other than that Bradley Cooper movie.

JOE: I have to assume that all the words about "Was I a rooster? Was I a wren?" all that shit, that seems like Bernstein. I didn't know about the Bernstein credit until right now. But that was the one point on the album where I was like, "okay, that's kind of corny."

SUNNY: And then he goes into songs that kinda play on that same theme. Reincarnation, life, cycles, love, hate, whatever. But it's more catchiness. I think "Over and Over" is a very fun song. "Set It to Song" is maybe a bit cheesy again. You can say in the review that I did that thing where I took the flat of my hand and seesawed it back and forth [Editor's note: he did not seesaw his hand back and forth]. But then it ends with "Same Old Lie," which I think is a really good six-minute song, it's a big song, it encapsulates all the themes. It's both catchy and sonically enjoyable. That's the one I listened to a couple more times. 

JOE: Nice.

SUNNY: After listening to it all, I'd say that 80% of the tracks are very good, a couple of them are skippable. Generally a strong 4/5 album for someone who doesn't really know My Morning Jacket's body of work. Or Leonard Bernstein's. But I would not call this "classical music." It's just good indie rock, with spiritual elements, backed by an orchestra.

JOE: Does it make you want to listen to more My Morning Jacket, or no?

SUNNY: It's made me interested in the work.

JOE: I feel like people who are into My Morning Jacket are really fucking into it.

SUNNY: Exactly. That's the sense I get.

JOE: To their detriment, probably!

SUNNY: It's one of those cults-of-personality-style bands, and from what I hear, this is a guy who has a wide range of styles and productions and output, which I think makes it even more of that, if you're into the artist.

JOE: It smells like piss real bad right here.

SUNNY: Real bad.

JOE: Alright. Any more thoughts?

SUNNY: No.

JOE: Feels like a good transcription instead of summarizing. You okay with that?

SUNNY: Yeah, that works.