Sunflower Thieves - Two Halves | Song Review
Sunflower Thieves released their debut EP in 2017 called 'Hold The Storm' which for me, is a very calming collection of songs. There are songs I can imagine putting on my record player and just chilling, zoning out, calming my thoughts of what might have been a bad day. The instrumental of their songs have that calming effect but the instrumental and their vocals together make a masterpiece.
In September of 2018, they released a new single called 'Two Halves'. After listening to their song, it again, made me very calm. It reminds me of a crisp Spring morning - a little chilly but the sun is trying to escape from the clouds. It sounds like it could be the theme tune to the season change of Spring to Summer.
If I am honest, I am not a huge fan of pop-folk music but Sunflower Thieves may have changed that for me. This song, as well as their others, reminds me of Dodie's music (A YouTube sensation turned musician). Sunflower Thieves have some real talent, their soothing vocals really make this song incredible.
I got the chance to do a little Q&A session with Amy and Lily from Sunflower Thieves regarding their song:
Q - What was the inspiration behind your song, 'Two Halves’?
A - All of our songs are very personal, and we tend to write from personal experience, about things that have moved or affected us. This means we write about some heartbreaking subjects, but we always try and emanate positivity in our music. Subjects relating to friendship, loss, strength and love are common themes in our music so far, but we have so much more to write, which is a really exciting concept. We don’t often talk in detail about these experiences but we love hearing how other people interpret our music.
Two Halves is inspired by a friend who went through an awful time and was very vulnerable, and about wanting to be there for someone whilst they rebuild their life, and you rebuild your friendship, without being a threat to them.
Q - What was the writing/recording process for this song?
A - We tend to write separately and bring ideas to each other, to add to, arrange and finish the songs, to make them Sunflower Thieves songs. Previously we used only organic instruments to create our tracks, both live and on recordings, but we’ve loved adding the synth sound to Two Halves, and the new tracks we’ve been working on since, as well as older songs in our live sets. Two Halves has helped us realise the sound we want to pursue, and we’re super excited about the response it has had.
Lily records, mixes and produces all of our recorded music before we send it off for mastering, and we pride ourselves in this DIY approach.
What has been the stand-out highlight from your music career so far?
Definitely the reception of Two Halves - it’s been overwhelming and is a huge step up for us. Our music has spread further than we anticipated and every day we’re still receiving lovely feedback and interest for gig bookings and being included in playlists and radio, off the back of Two Halves. We can’t wait to follow it up and share more new music. Performance-wise, we were asked to support the wonderful Wildwood Kin on the Leicester date of their UK tour, which was super exciting for us as they are one of the bands we look up to and are inspired by. They put on an amazing show and were all lovely to us, and have kept in touch since.
Talk me through the process of coming up with a song like 'Two Halves’.
As we mentioned earlier, our songs are all very personal, and we are inspired to write by what moves and affects us. Once we have a complete song, we come together and learn it, add vocal harmonies, discuss what we could do to push the song to its full potential, etc. It’s exciting to then take the track to the band, play it to them and see what ideas Matt and Jacob come up with. From there, it is easier to envisage a recorded version of a track, and in turn, a demo can help highlight where the song needs more interest in live performance as well.
What do you think is the hardest part of being a small artist?
Often in applying for festivals or trying to scout out support slots and knowing it will probably go without acknowledgement is a difficult thing to accept, and to keep going at. There are so many talented, hard-working musicians, and it’s definitely a challenge to stand out and be taken seriously! This includes not being paid sufficiently and being taken advantage of as a small band, when some promoters and venues assume we will just be grateful to play, no matter the cost.
That being said, we don’t come across these issues as much as we used to, and we have been offered some fantastic opportunities while being a small band.
Where can you see yourself, as a duo, in 5 years?
This is an impossible question to answer, as we don’t know what will come after uni! We’d love to be touring, performing at more festivals and playing more shows abroad.
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I really like this duo - they are definitely artists to look out for. I can see them being big one day and I am excited to see that. They are so hard-working and their talent needs to be heard.
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