Keith Evans and Holly Mullinax, the duo behind electro-pop group Sonen, are set to self-release their debut record Inside the Sun on April 9th. The group spent time recording the songs which would make up their debut between their hometown of Atlanta and a secluded lake house in North Carolina. This dramatic change in scenery is indicative of the group’s intent to marry bright, shimmering synths with something more akin to introspective dance music. The beats still thump in your chest and the warbling electronics still aim to move the hips as well as the head, but Sonen go out of their way to never let the music sit comfortably in any one spot for very long. Through constant motion and densely layered instrumentation, the songs on Inside the Sun are immediately engaging while also taking their time to reveal all the little nuances that you begin to hear after repeated spins.
Having won “Best Electronic Act of Atlanta” from Creative Loafing for the years of 2010 and 2011, Evans and Mullinax strive to combine the iridescent and over-saturated sounds from their live show with a more personal and intimate feeling which they found in abundance at that North Carolina lake house. The band’s poly-rhythmic, analog aesthetic seems to dig a bit deeper into the group’s obvious influences, and they come away with an album that is respectful of its musical antecedents but that never feels beholden to any particular artist or genre.
Beats Per Minute is pleased to premiere the album stream of Sonen’s latest record Inside the Sun.