Sophie Day Announces Departure from Alunah
Bummer news out of the UK for fans of heavy forest rockers Alunah, and make no mistake, I consider myself to be one. Guitarist/vocalist Sophie Day has decided after 11 years to leave the band she and husband/fellow guitarist Dave Day started in 2006. Her stepping down from the frontwoman role leaves a significant void in Alunah, as she was also responsible for the lyrics and thereby the naturalist thematic that has become so much a part of Alunah‘s sound over the course of their four albums — the latest of which, Solennial (review here), came out as their first for Svart Records earlier this year — but the band has decided to continue on and search for a replacement with whom they’ll look to move forward on a fifth full-length.
Sophie‘s last shows with Alunah were this past July with Acid King, which seems fitting in terms of the influence that band had particularly on Alunah‘s earlier offerings. In a brief statement, Sophie says she has other avenues she’s interested in exploring, and in addition to general intrigue as to what shape Alunah might take in her absence, I know I for one would be interested to hear how she would/hopefully will manifest songwriting in the future. Maybe she’ll go acid folk. That would rule. She could pull it off, not a doubt in my mind. Songs of the wood and whatnot.
In case you’d like to rock some Alunah in her honor, all four of their albums can be streamed at the bottom of this post.
Best of luck of course to Sophie Day and to the band, who made the announcement thusly on their website:
Singer/Guitarist Sophie Day Leaves Alunah
25/9/2017
It is with a heavy heart that we announce the departure of our singer and guitarist Sophie Day; our gigs back in July with Acid King were particularly poignant, due to that fact that they were Soph’s final gigs with us.
As a founding member, Soph has been with Alunah since our inception in 2006, and she has been an integral part in forging Alunah into what it has become today. The remaining members of Alunah wish to continue, and invite applications to be sent to info@alunah.co.uk. Please only apply if you are serious and willing to commit.
Of her decision Soph said, “When we started Alunah I never realised how huge a part of my life it would become, how many wonderful people I would meet and establish lasting relationships with, how much music we would write and release, how much support we would get from labels and press, how many countries we would visit and how many of our favourite bands we would share the stage with. It has been my comfort blanket through personal trauma and have been moved when told how much our music has affected some of you guys. It has been amazing.
“However, there are other avenues I want to explore, both musically and in my personal life, and I can no longer give my all to Alunah, nor would it be fair to try and force Alunah in the direction I would like to go in. I continue to support the guys with design and marketing and of course through Dave’s and my label Catacomb Records, who have just co-released ‘White Hoarhound’ with HeviSike Records. I wish Dave, Jake, Dan and my replacement(s) the best of luck for the future, and I thank every single one of you for your support over the years. It’s been a trip.”
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