by Rebecca Gayle
Providing one of the most overtly sentimental albums since the Big Pink’s 2009 release, A Brief History of Love, the new Philidelphia duo, Sun Airway, break into the emerging bliss-pop scene with their first-ever album, Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier, which hit record stores in October.
Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier presents a very sentimental album whose strengths lie in its lyricism and the beautiful imagery that its songs create, but falls short in terms of its inventiveness. Jon Barthmus, the songwriter of the pair that comprises Sun Airway, clearly demonstrates his strength as a painter of words throughout the album. Along with Patrick Marsceill’s music production and mixing, Sun Airway guides the listener through the beautiful sonic and lyrical landscape of the album’s ten tracks, but, in the long run, loses the listener in its ambition and cumbersomeness.
For an album with dedications to Kurt Vonnegut, J.D. Salinger, and David Foster Wallace, Sun Airway’s lyrical prowess should not come as much of a surprise. Given the general lack of incredibly poetic, lyrically driven albums, however, Barthmus’ songwriting abilities stand out almost immediately. Even in the opening song, “Infinity,” Barthmus immediately paints a beautiful picture of waking up next to his lover: “Woke up as a snowflake on an ocean / I looked over / Saw you floating next to me / Drowned in the moonlight hour.” In “Oh, Naoko” – an absolutely beautiful song that is one of the best of the album – Barthmus brings this imagery up a notch, offering himself to Naoko poetically: “When the winter turns your bed frame into a frail shell / Turns you over to a deep and dark well / I’ll be there just to lasso you the moonshine / In the back of your mind just like a wind chime / I’ll be there when you call my name, Naoko.” Finally, Barthmus captures how difficult life can be some days with the other standout track of the album, “Put the Days Away,” singing, “Trying not to die is so taxing / You take a breath just to let it out again / Waking up is an exercise in trust / … / Trying to live on is so taxing / Just stacking up all those failures and accidents / We’ve thrown away on a mountain of mistakes.”
