The London-based musician’s upcoming LP The World’s So Cruel arrives in October
Listeners this season seem to be easily flocking across the pond to explore Europe for the best of all upcoming sounds. Europe is yet again on the forefront of experimentation, boundary-pushing, and genre-bending that only enhances the musical medium. London-based musician, SANDS, harnesses all of these attributes and more. With the release of his July single, “Transmission”, shoegaze fans will be well prepared for his full album The World’s So Cruel in October.
Dream pop seeps through the subconscious from this track. SANDS’ vocals seem to lie within and then blossom with an alternative backing that grinds up closely. While the song is titled “Transmission,” its apt use of transitions is an admirable quality. The music is completely seamless with a flow that is equally pleasurable. Musicians and fans alike will find familiarity in tandem with unique sound experimentation. Fans will break it down and crawl right back to discover more. SANDS succeeds in offering a tune that calms the mind during the season while gearing it up for change that is always inevitable.
To get a better picture of the musician, he expressed his current developments.
You live in quite a musical world purely your own, how have you harnessed that power? What helped motivate this new body of work and why?
I think in the first place, what’s important for me with the releases I’ve put out so far, is maybe to have defined my songwriting a bit, and to have created a poetic environment in which it can be voiced. It’s like I’ve laid the foundations, built a home for whatever I’ll make, even if musically it might take some different turns. The idea of putting together the most pop sounding material I had, with no real concept if not just having a good collection of songs like they did in the ’50s and ’60s is what drove this new project. That straightforward attitude and aesthetic had a big influence.
How has the European experience influenced your sound to date? Are there specific moments that stick out in your mind?
I definitely consider myself a European and love art and music that’s made here, the sensibility and the lenses through which the world is seen and the sounds that came out of here from the Mediterranean to the North Sea… America’s appeal has always been there, something far, raw, groovier and slightly exotic also musically.
When not making tunes, what keeps you invigorated? What excites you?
I love being out, meeting people and having a good time with good wine and whiskey. The excitement you get from watching a movie or a piece of art and feeling like it has some impact on you. Discovering new music too is always something that amazes me. I have a soft spot for lyrics in general, I truly believe in the power of them. I’m a huge football and tennis fan. Travelling is one of the best things in life I think, also considering it might lead you to some of the above. As one has the chance to do it, that should be on top of the list.
What are your ambitions for this season and beyond? Is there something you are really passionate about as SANDS develops?
Reaching and engaging more people with the new record. In this perspective also getting a band together, which I don’t have at the moment would be cool…Most importantly, [I would like] to start working on new stuff as I already have the next couple of things in mind, they should be quite different from this one.
What advice would you give a new musician eager to get out there that you wish you had starting out?
One that sticks to my mind is to try and surround yourself with musicians that are more talented than you.
