Drawing us in with an ethereal folk vocal riff and intertwined acoustic guitar soundscape, expanding with a sublime string arrangement, New Sunday open The Empty Street with the situational lyrics, “I’m walking in an empty street, there’s no-one there to meet, this is the perfect place to hide from sweet dreams that once died…”
We immediately connect with the metaphorical depth that manifests with the prose and the highly relatable lived experience brought to life with poetic prowess. The high emotional quotient is awe-inspiring and the cinematic allure is undeniable. We could imagine The Empty Street being featured in an episode of Euphoria on HBO, or a scene in the Apple TV show, PLUR1BUS, which reflects the message of the song.
There is most certainly a high spiritual energy that comes to life from the song, which feels like so many Ayahuasca integration songs with a raw and ancestral folk adjacency. We learn that The Empty Street is written by the songwriter Einar Askelsson. The other members of New Sunday are Elizabeth Monroe on vocals and Simon Jones as executive producer and mixer.
Speaking on the release, Einar Askelsson confesses, “To write the music I somehow need to have the lyrics in front of me. Like in this song the lyrics tells a story. I could picture in my mind what kind of a sound I was looking for. I tend to use many chords in my song but this time the song is only four chords. It all depends of the melody you manage to create within these chords.”
This nod to timeless pop music creation is important. For some background, Einar Askelsson discovered music twelve years ago through an unexpected turning point. After battling severe CPTSD that left him completely burnt out, his therapist encouraged him to find something to counter the intense anxiety he was experiencing.
He found this salvation through music. With only a few guitar chords to his name, Einar began playing as soon as he woke up and was amazed by how the instrument gradually brought him a sense of calm. During his five-year recovery, he also drew on his love of writing poetry, transforming his thoughts and emotions into words that soon became the foundation for his songwriting.
Needless to say, we are in awe, and have added The Empty Street to our New Music Spotlight playlist, and our TIMELESS playlist, whilst we continue to stream New Sunday‘s wider discography, including Echoes In The Dark, and All Days And All Night.