It’s new music Friday, and you know how much we enjoy this day of the week. Today’s mix has This Never Happened superstar duo Sultan + Shepard and their immaculate release Endless Dawn. The wait is finally over for their third studio album out now on every platform. Have a listen and share with us your favourite track. I guarantee that is going to be a tough — maybe impossible — choice.
The lads take this album to a whole new level with collaborations. None of them should be strangers to you lot, Bridges, Elderbrook, Julia Church, LANKS, Nathan Nicholson, Panama, Shallou, Tishmal and Tasha Josephine. If you were in Denver or London earlier this week you could have heard this album live. Ossama & Ned teamed up with Dolby Atmos for a listening party which was a huge success. They also hosted a Zoom meeting for all of us in the other parts of the world. Let me tell you, it was a grand Wednesday afternoon, with people joining from work, the gym, and all multitudes of different places. I was one of the 250 people who attended this party and it was an experience I very much cherish. This tradition started back in the Pandemic when S+S released their first album Something, Everything and hopefully continues moving forward.
Journey of Endless, Dawn
S+S have been in the scene for over two decades. You’d remember them for their energetic festival sets, and mainstage songs. Since then the duo has grown tremendously in the direction of Melodic and Progressive House. They made their imprint by getting grounded with our favourite Lane 8 & the This Never Happened label. The 14-track LP is not only a compilation of Ned & Ossama’s most recent works but tales that were prepared in the past few years. The album as a whole highlights growth, and finding who you are eventually. Songs that have been with them for over 2 years, that didn’t make it to Forever, Now. From the club mixes to angelic vocals, you are in for a treat: falling in love with their music. The tracks line up beautifully, painting a picture of a spiritual evolutionary journey.
In the few months since the announcement and anticipation of delivery, Endless, Dawn spawned a quartet of singles. They commenced with ‘Under The Surface’ with the vocals of Nathan Nicholson followed by Panama on ‘Falling Behind‘, ‘En’ and ‘Highest Love’ with LANKS. The 14 tracks experienced cuts and plays, Lane 8 scattering them in his multiple mixtapes. In Lane 8’s winter mixtape fans previewed ‘All I Know’ with Julia Church and ‘Out of The Silence’ with Tasha Josephine. You may already know this but ‘All I Know’ probably became one of the most rewinded tracks on a mixtape. Winding back to the Fall 2023 mixtape, we heard the collaboration with Elderbrook ‘I’ll Be Here‘. The album today had a flurry of never-heard tracks ‘Murmur’, ‘Endless, Dawn’ and more.
Endless, Dawn
The first track ‘Murmur’ sets up the pace of the album beautifully with the classic Sultan & Shepard sound, the arps and the progressive buildup. Setting up a perfect tone for the next two tracks that feature the beautiful vocals of Elderbrook and Tishmal. The tracks from start to finish paint a story of growth, from who they were as people when they started this journey of music to who they are at the end of the album. The lyrics of Sultan & Shepard’s tracks always create an emotional upliftment. It metaphorically highlights the evolution of them as artists. We take a bit of a break from the emotions to a real mood lifter or they call it ‘Cloud Lifter’ and a banger ‘Bracket Burst’. These two will definitely have a special place on the dancefloor. Each track paints a different story but together this album hits differently. How can I forget the lovely track with Shallou that was co-written with Steven Mckay? The Grammy-nominated songwriter has collaborated on three tracks in Endless, Dawn. The build-up to the title track ‘Endless, Dawn’ is unreal, it actualizes the reserved emotions that rise to the surface creating this fruitful album.
Whilst we enjoy this album, get ready for Sultan & Shepard to join their fans with their live tour. You can check out their page here, to see if they will be playing in a city around you.
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