The Dear Hunter recently released the new album, “Sunya.” Continuing the sonic universe they first unveiled on 2022’s “Antimai,” “Sunya” finds the band leaning into synth textures and tightly wound grooves, drawing as heavily from jazz and funk as from Progressive Rock.
The band have unveiled the official video for the track “The Glass Desert III – The Plains,” watch it via the YouTube player below:
The band has not shared much behind the meaning of the album, but along with this video, they shared a post on social media with some explanation from singer/songwriter Casey Crescenzo:
“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a music video that simply shows the band without any surrounding theatrics. With all of the ambitious, lore-driven goals I’ve signed us up for, it can be easy to overlook that at its core, this group is just friends making music we love. This video was created with that in mind. To bring it to life, we spent one of the first sunny days of the year in front of a green screen. There has been a lot of fun theorizing about this record—the narrative, the character—but while that’s something I’ve always enjoyed watching and occasionally engaging with, it feels important to offer a bit more context.
This album has no focal character. It has no narrative. The Indigo Child is a different approach to conceptual music than what we explored with The Acts, just as The Color Spectrum diverged after Act III. Sonically, this is the music of The Indigo Child. Between Antimai and Sunya, you now have the sound of a world that can exist in your mind. Lyrically, these albums approach that world from two different but complementary perspectives: one outward-facing, centered on communities within a societal hierarchy, and the other inward-facing, centered on your experience of the world around you. You are the character in this story.
The events referenced throughout are the narrative: the realization that you exist within a hostile world stripped of its physical and metaphysical resources; the presence of others who believe their survival may depend on your harm; the forced gamble of capitalism; the misplaced idolatry of those who came before you; the fear of confronting yourself at your most fundamental level; the need to move forward with only yourself as compass and commander; and the disorientation of feeling directionless.
And ultimately, the understanding that what you are chasing—an answer to all the questions you’ve gathered along the way—may already exist within you, shaped by everything you’ve endured. These are my experiences, and they are yours. Don’t search the lyrics for a narrative that explains the record. Look inward and you’ll find it there. I promise there is something beautiful waiting for you.”
Purchase “Sunya” here: https://vyd.co/Sunya
Tracklist:
01. The Wasteland
02. Marauders
03. The Bazaareteria
04. The Glass Desert
I. Giants
II. Cliffs & Stormlands
III. The Plains
05. Sunya
The Dear Hunter will be making the following appearances this summer on its “The Road To Sunya” tour. Dates below.
MAY
03 — Seattle, WA — Neptune Theater
04 — Portland, OR — Aladdin Theater
06 — San Francisco, CA — Bimbo’s 365 Club
07 — Pomona, CA — The Glass House
08 — San Diego, CA — House of Blues
10 — Phoenix, AZ — Crescent Ballroom
12 — Dallas, TX — Granada Theater
13 — Austin, TX — Mohawk
15 — Denver, CO — Marquis Theater *
JULY
28 — St. Louis, MO — The Sovereign *
29 — Nashville, TN — The Basement East *
31 — Atlanta, GA — Hell at the Masquerade *
AUGUST
01 — Carrboro, NC — Cat’s Cradle *
03 — Baltimore, MD — Baltimore Soundstage *
04 — Philadelphia, PA — Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia
06 — Boston, MA — Paradise Rock Club
07 — New York, NY — Irving Plaza
08 — Asbury Park, NJ — House of Independents
10 — Allentown, PA — Archer Music Hall
11 — Lakewood, OH — The Roxy
13 — Grand Rapids, MI — The Pyramid Scheme
14 — Chicago, IL — House of Blues
Dates w/o Closure In Moscow, Main Support TBA*