An EP to get you excited for summer - Sunshine Seekers

‘The Sway’ are a 5 piece indie band from Liverpool who are smashing the Spotify streams with their first EP ‘Sunshine Seekers’. Released 19th Feb 2021, in just over a month the EP has accumulated just over 100,000 streams- a huge triumph. The five Liverpudlians: Ryan McNeed, Ciaran Smith, Harry Robertson, Aiden McLean, Sean Knibb have collectively produced a very well-put-together and professional sounding collection of tracks. 

To start off, we have the EP’s titled track ‘Sunshine seekers’ featuring original sounding vocals and a great music video. When I first listened to this track, the lead singer's voice slapped me in the face, he has really got something special. His voice carries a strong distinctive sound for a young singer and the way the scouser accents peeps through sounds amazing. The track comes in hot and maintains enough variation to keep it exciting. Although it is very typical of the genre, I found their use of real instruments refreshing and indulged in the slightly out of tune piano recordings.

 

The following track on the EP ‘Don’t you wanna be’ is short, sweet, and upbeat, the song does what it says on the tin. I could really imagine this song gaining major traction from featuring on an advert this summer, with its universally accessible sound. The penultimate track ‘‘Step right’ felt good but was repetitive and lacked growth as a single standing song. It didn’t leave an impression on me like ‘Sunshine Seekers’ did because it lacked as much character and drive. 

‘Changing’ presents a consistent sound which could have benefited from more variation. Such as changing up the opening guitar riff, as that begins to drone the song out a bit.

 

‘Sunshine Seekers’ is a very successful first EP release and I believe that as the young members of the band mature, so will their music. Not to say that their style is immature or inaccessible for anyone out of their teens, but their music is ‘safe’ and so far, predictable. Each song doesn’t contrast from the last and falls into the dangerous classification of all sounding the same. Maturity in playing usually eradicates this issue in new and young bands. They have an incredibly solid foundation for growth considering the EP’s streaming success, which I am sure they will take full advantage of. Their fans will look forward to enjoying their live performance capabilities once/if mass gathering covid restrictions are lifted. They are yet to announce any performances for this summer. I am very interested in what else they have to share with us in the future.

Olivia Smitherman

@smitherman_music

Image: The Sway on Instagram