The debut album from desert rock duo SoftSun was one of the greatest releases of 2024. Guitarist Gary Arce had already put his name to some really enjoyable work with improvisational collective Yawning Balch over the course of the year leading up to SoftSun’s unveiling but, as part of that duo, there was something truly special about the way he was able to weave deep psych and desert rock sounds against Pia Isaaksen’s vocals. It was a release that set a high bar, but also one that suggested a “lightning in a bottle” moment; that a follow up might not follow especially quickly…or even at all.

If SoftSun had turned out to be one of those magical, one-shot deals, desert rock fans would have been happy enough. The fact that Gary and Pia managed to tease a big return with a new single almost exactly a year later gave them reason to get genuinely excited – especially when ‘A Hundred And Sixteen’ sounded like classic SoftSun from the outset. This set a great precedent for the album itself: and each of the six numbers that forms ‘Eternal Sunrise’ – released in November 2025 – gives enough of a reason to claim that SoftSun are something special, genre-wise.

…And the band certainly aren’t thinking small, either: with three of the numbers clocking in between seven and eight minutes, there’s a lot in which a genuinely receptive audience can lose themselves. The first of these epic tracks, ‘Sacred Heart’ is used as a genuinely effective opener, setting the scene with a wealth of slow burning melodies and sonic arcs, yet still holding onto the idea that a “song” might still be important (a theory which definitely sets SoftSun apart from Arce’s Yawning Balch). Gary opens the number with a few disjointed echoing sounds, before a deep, cymbal-less drum part marks out a slow tempo. Between them, the drums and guitar actually convey more of a dark prog influence than pure desert rock, but despite being a little different, it sounds great. Pia adds a genuinely haunting vocal, unleashing long notes befitting of a moody narrative, and this actually makes SoftSun sound – at least fleetingly – like the missing link between a funereal goth band from 1987 and the Cocteau Twins. As things progress, Arce’s guitar work rises to fill space with distorted waves of sound that offset the slowness brilliantly, since they constantly catch the ear and often suggest something bigger over the horizon, which, naturally, never really comes. In relation to most of the debut, this is far deeper and much darker sounding, but in time, fans will likely come to consider this a great example of the duo’s cinematic sound.

Across a sprawling eight minutes, ‘A Hundred And Sixteen’ weaves another dark musical web, but unlike ‘Sacred Heart’, it does so without feeling at all doom-laden. Against another slow tempo, Gary Arce drops into a whole world of soaring guitar lines which, with the aid of yet more reverb, draw the listener into a psychedelic haze. Whether teasing with melodic, swooping tones, or adding busier, almost bluesy solo passages, his playing is utterly gorgeous – in an alternative sense, of course – whilst a heavily treated vocal from Pia compliments the stoner-ish vibes with a haunting delivery that sounds like a distant, much spookier relation to the dream pop scene. Never shifting tempo, this is a near hypnotic experience that’s guaranteed to impress those who’ve already been drawn into SoftSun’s trippy world, before ‘Anywhere But Here’ finally lightens everything with a (relatively) busier arrangement, a wealth of (relatively) cleaner guitar sounds and a stronger influence from dream pop added to the desert vibe. Arce’s multi-layered guitars seem a little too dominant at first, but given time to adjust they sound great weaving in and out of a spooky vocal, and likewise, the tribal drumming at the heart of the track – always helping to bring a feeling of motility – is absolutely spot on. Despite the music offering some of this album’s most appealing melodies, it’s Isaaksen who steals the show here, adding a vocal that’s unhurried; her gothic influenced cry never seems to entirely fit the music, yet at the same time, sounds absolutely perfect in its role to bring an otherworldly element to the piece. The extra drums and more palatable tempo help this track to be one of SoftSun’s most accessible numbers. It may be half the length of most of their works, but that only makes it feel much sharper.

The album’s second half brings just as many musical treats. Opening with a deep bass tone, ‘Sleep The Day Away’ makes no secret of a dark heart, but the semi-droning tones and almost leaden rhythm are offset brilliantly by another really appealing vocal. Pia occasionally sounds like she’s invoking spirits from the end of a very long corridor, and is half buried beneath the moody arrangement, but if you’ve found a love for SoftSun previously, you’ll know that this slightly detached approach works brilliantly. Her voice, partially disguised under filters and a world of bass, continually draws the ear, and the listener has no alternative but to be strangely lulled by the maudlin sound. For those hoping to find a little more melody within, Gary’s guitar work is superb throughout: there are moments where he teases with arcs of distortion – like an overspill from his experiments with Yawning Balch – and others where he drops in with longer flowing notes, bringing a touch of prog, but very much fuelling the desert and psych influences within SoftSun’s world of sound.

Tribal drums and sludge bass kick off ‘Abandoned Lands’, offering far more of a stoner-infused sound, before Arce’s disjointed guitar work brings the expected desert influenced trippiness. As before, his guitar appears to drop in and out at first, but his inventive approach raises everything above improvisational noodling. He sounds impressive enough, but in this instance, he’s outshone by Pia, who’s afforded a bigger space than before, and her vocal works a succession of flowing melodies – almost coming from a dark folk place, melodically speaking, with multi-tracked voices occasionally sounding like desert rock’s answer to a Celtic choir. Set against the drums – which haven’t actually broken from their original rhythm – the mellow vibes create something truly striking, to the point where Gary’s contributions during the second half of the performance seem to fade into the distance, almost becoming little more than a mood colourant. Despite a lot of competition, this is ‘Eternal Sunrise’s stand out track, and repeated listens will not diminish its haunting beauty.

Obviously, things hit a late peak there, but the eight minute finale ‘Cremation Sunlight’ brings several things of interest. Firstly, there’s Gary’s guitar work, which immediately sounds fabulous when he delivers a series of descending notes against a doomy drum line, and it’s surprising how much this actually sounds like a much spookier take on one of the atmospheric pieces nestled on side two of U2’s ‘Unforgettable Fire’. Naturally, after Pia’s vocal arrives, this couldn’t be anyone other than SoftSun. Over the course of this performance, the fusion of dark blues, desert rock, spacious psych and proggy flourishes weaves an unhurried melody which mightn’t strike a chord immediately, but ultimately becomes top tier SoftSun purely through the band’s desire to take desert rock into a more expansive place than most of their stoner-oriented peers. A genuine slowburner, it’s worth persevering with, since everything here feels meticulously arranged, even though some of Arce’s guitar work has a hint of something that grew from a Yawning Balch jam. There’s very little on this album with a genuine punch, but this just wouldn’t work as anything but thet closing number. A genuine thrill for anyone who loved the SoftSun debut, this takes their trippier aspects to a logical extreme, creating their most confident place to date.

‘Eternal Sunrise’ is one of those albums that’s very much suited to a certain time and place. It works very effectively as a late night listen; it’s relative disinterest in louder elements or anything with any true immediacy makes it the kind of record that’s good for winding down, and listening on headphones will certainly bring out the more interesting and intricate elements of Gary Arce’s always inventive playing style. For those who loved the debut, this will definitely be considered essential listening, and although people approaching SoftSun for the first time here might have to work a little harder for their listening rewards, this second outing is definitely worth investing the time.

October 2025