Sunnbrella explores complex rhythms with new album ‘Heartworn’

One of the most exciting artists in the shoegaze and indie-psych scene Sunnbrella returns with his innovative new project Heartworn. This 12-track LP explores the dreamy summer sounds of acoustic guitars, harmonizing vocals, wind instruments, and dancing rhythms that draw on breakbeat and electronica.

David Zbirka, the creator of Sunnbrella, co-produced the album with Patrick James Fitzroy (PVA, Sorry), who has been working with him on Sunnbrella since the Wanted Time EP in 2019. Zbirka started working on this album at the end of 2019/start of 2020 and recorded most of it during the pandemic. For personal reasons, he had to put the project on hold a few times over the last couple of years and finally finished it at the end of Summer 2022.

Zbirka wanted to get more dance rhythms into the dream-pop/indie/shoegaze sound that he was working with up until that point and put more of an emphasis on the beats, even with the more traditional songs. Lyrically, he says that the album explores feelings of loneliness and yearning but at the same time, there are moments of hope and optimism. There are tracks such as "Defend Yourself" and "Do This Alone" which could almost fit on a Chemical Brothers album. There are still plenty of emotive, indie vibes with tracks such as "No More" and "A Week or So" capturing that pure, shoegaze style.

From the press release, it's clear that Sunnbrella's signature sound that shines a nostalgia-infused alternative indie style is still present in "Heartworn," but it's explored in a completely unique fashion. As he explains

"I wanted to get more dance rhythms into the dream-pop/indie/shoegaze sound that I was working with up until that point, and put more of an emphasis on the beats, even with the more traditional songs.

I usually don’t write words with a story in mind and things tend to fall into place gradually and subconsciously from scraps of poetry and hazy memories, so I didn’t quite know what the story of the album was until it was finished. Lyrically, I think the album explores feelings of loneliness and yearning but at the same time, there are moments of hope and optimism”.