Andrew McLeod has been making music as Sunnsetter for a long time, and I’ve just now caught up. Their last two singles are titled Try Again and I ACTUALLY DON’T WANNA DIE, and they’re so gorgeous that they sent me through McLeod’s entire catalogue (it’s pretty extensive). Here’s Try Again:

Apparently I ACTUALLY DON’T WANNA DIE is a re-recording of a song from McLeod’s 2018 record worrybody., which answers any questions raised by the age change between the verses. Here’s the new version, it reminds me a little of a Weakerthans song (two Weakerthans references in one week! Excellent, or maybe a cry for help):

Their recent full-length, last year’s The best that I can be. is gorgeous and emotionally crushing. From their website:

‘The best that I can be.’ was written over the course of three years-some of the most complicated but rewarding personally for McLeod. 

Not only did they grieve the loss of a close friend and bandmate, but they were dealing with newly found sobriety, their mental health, and concepts around gender identity and queerness. More chaos courtesy of a pandemic added to the mix, but McLeod came out the other side, trying to rebuild their life around more positive and emotionally healthy habits. “Going on five years sober, this experience has been one that has shaped me like no other has,” they say.

Judging by the music that came out of it, we’re lucky that Andrew found their way through it. The songs are layered, sometimes noisy and lo-fi, occasionally instrumental. The lyrics are sparse and simple, and intensely personal.

This one stands out to me on the album:

The record is a very demanding listen, with themes of suicide, depression and loneliness, but it’s also cathartic. Late album beauty At the End of the Day is a kind of Explosions in the Sky instrumental, with strings and a lyric-free vocal that builds slowly to an uplifting crescendo that sets up the hopeful, perhaps even optimistic tone in the closing tracks of the record.

Andrew released a couple of bonus tracks as a follow-up to the record that are worth a listen as well.

There’s a lot more to hear — they’ve released an ambient record called All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace, a much more experimental record called The Love You Withhold Is the Pain You Carry, and a lot more. They’re playing pretty regularly around the Toronto area, and it sounds like the shows are pretty intimate, which would be amazing.

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