SoftSun‘s latest release is a Ripple Music split with Ten East. Ten East features Gary Arce on guitar. SoftSun and Yawning Man, who will tour Europe together starting at Esbjerg Fuzztival on May 30, both also count Arce in their respective lineups, so yes, the various parties involved here are intertwined on multiple levels. At its core, SoftSun is the collaboration between bassist/vocalist Pia Isaksen and Arce, and I’m pretty sure Yawning Man will be making the trip with Mario Lalli (also Fatso Jetson) on bass and Bill Stinson on drums, so Arce is keeping good company any way you want to look at it.

There are open slots here, if you’re somewhere that you can make a show happen. Look, I know I say it all the time, but maybe this is the time. Maybe you’re somwhere between Oslo and Martinengo in Italy and you can make something happen on a Thursday or Friday. Maybe you’ve got a cool, creative spot for a show on a Monday somewhere off the beaten path in Germany. I don’t know, but if you can help out, help out. They’ve got fests and such but there’s still room to die those slots and club dates together.

From the PR wire:

HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS Booking to announce YAWNING MAN + SoftSun European Tour 2026 !!

We are stoked to announce that our US desert rock Legends YAWNING MAN will tour Europe with the psych-rock band SoftSun in May/June 2026.

!! STILL FEW OPEN SLOTS !!

*** YAWNING MAN + SoftSun – European Tour 2026 ***
Sat 30 May 26 DK ESBJERG – Fuzztival
Sun 31 May 26 SE MALMO – Plan B
Mon 1 Jun 26 SE GOTHENBURG – Café Hängmattan
Tue 2 Jun 26 SE STOCKHOLM – Klubb Nalen
Wed 3 Jun 26 NO OSLO – John Dee
Thu 4 Jun 26 ***OPEN SLOT***
Fri 5 Jun 26 ***OPEN SLOT***
Sat 6 Jun 26 IT MARTINENGO – Rock in Riot
Sun 7 Jun 26 IT TBC
Mon 8 Jun 26 IT ZERO BRANCO – Altroquando
Tue 9 Jun 26 ***OPEN SLOT***
Wed 10 Jun 26 AT VIENNA – Arena
Thu 11 Jun 26 DE DRESDEN – Chemiefabrik
Fri 12 Jun 26 ***OPEN SLOT***
Sat 13 Jun 26 BL LEUVEN – Sojo
Sun 14 Jun 26 ***OPEN SLOT***
Mon 15 Jun 26 ***OPEN SLOT***
Tue 16 Jun 26 DE KOLN – Sonic Ballroom
Wed 17 Jun 26 ***OPEN SLOT***
Thu 18 Jun 26 ***OPEN SLOT***
Fri 19 Jun 26 LI VADUZ – Camaleon
Sat 20 Jun 26 IT SENEGHE – Alterday Fest
Fri 26 Jun 26 NL DEVENTER – Burgerweeshuis
Sat 27 Jun 26 DE WIESBADEN – Sonic Ride Fest

YAWNING MAN

Formed in 1986 under the sun of the Coachella Valley by guitarist Gary Arce, drummer Alfredo Hernandez, bassist Mario Lalli and second guitarist Larry Lalli, YAWNING MAN are considered the very founders of the desert rock movement, which was made popular by bands such as Kyuss or Queens of The Stone Age in the early 90s.

Gary Arce – Guitar
Mario Lalli – Bass
Bill Stinson – Drums

SOFTSUN

SoftSun was formed in 2023 by guitarist Gary Arce (Yawning Man) and bassist/vocalist Pia Isaksen (PIA ISA). On their second album they are joined by Robert Garson on drums.

The band is experimenting with sounds and are difficult to place in a specific genre. They have a style of their own with contrasts of softness and distortion, beauty and noise and emotional peaks and valleys. The music is patient, heavy and dreamy, with haunting vocals and beautiful guitars drenched in distortion and reverb over patient and thought out drums.

The songs are flowing slowly and take inspiration from both the Californian desert landscapes to the Norwegian oceans where the two founding members come from.

Pia Isaksen – bass/vocals
Gary Arce – guitar
Robert Garson – drums

https://softsunband.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/softsunofficial/
https://www.facebook.com/people/SoftSun/61557870166741/

http://www.yawningman.com/
https://yawningman.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/yawningmanofficial/
https://www.facebook.com/yawningmanofficial/

https://www.heavypsychsounds.com
https://heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/heavypsychsounds_records/
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/

Ten East & SoftSun, Turned to Stone Chapter 10 (2026)

Yawning Man, Pavement Ends (2025)

Stacked lineup for Esbjerg Fuzztival 2026 in Denmark, which is expanding beyond its two-dayer presentation with a pre-party on Thursday, May 28 that will be overseen by the fest’s house band, the instrumentalists Vestjysk Ørken, whose third LP will be out by the time they hit the stage. Yawning Man and Fuzz Sagrado headline, with Howling Giant, Craneium, Child, SoftSun, Deville and others providing strong backing for the fest-proper, for which the lineup is now fully announced. That’s as opposed to the pre-show, which still has question marks on the poster below for two more bands playing.

Whoever they get, the Fuzztival always delivers a sense of vibe and already we see it doing so here while showcasing variety in a heavy underground context. I mean, they have Child and Childrenn — what more could you want? Kidding aside, even two bands like Craneium and Howling Giant, both of whom I would describe as melodic and progressive heavy rock, are aproaching those ideas from different angles, so while it’s 14 acts for two days, each one is bringing something of their own to the proceedings.

From social media:

ESBJERG FUZZTIVAL – Full Festival Announcement!!

We are PROUD to be hosting the legends of the desert YAWNING MAN as our Saturday night headliner! What an absolute treat that we have been looking forward to for a long time!

Also proud to be adding SoftSun to the poster! The project between Gary Arce (Yawning Man) and Pia Isaksen (Superlynx). We can’t wait!

14 bands over two days – but wait, there’s more! The Fuzztival Pre-Party on Thursday the 28th we will host 3 additional bands TBA. First band on stage will be Vestjysk Ørken – while they have opened the festival for the past 8 editions, the tradition is now coming to an end, and they are moving to the pre-party instead! Don’t miss out, as their third album is releasing in April, so they will have fresh tunes for us!

https://www.fuzztival.com/
https://www.instagram.com/esbjerg_fuzztival/
https://www.facebook.com/esbjergfuzztival/

Yawning Man, Pavement Ends (2025)

Obviously the throughline here from one outfit to the other is guitarist Gary Arce. The Yawning Man founder has two full-lengths out in collaboration with Pia Isaksen (Pia Isa, Superlynx) under the banner of Softsun, and has made Ten East a somewhat-amorphous-in-lineup offshoot outfit for not-Yawning–Man explorations. The last Ten East LP, Skyline Pressure (review here), came out on Small Stone in 2016. Softsun is the more ongoing band; the second LP, Eternal Sunrise (review here), was offered through Heavy Psych Sounds last year.

So as the two projects unite to take part in Ripple Music‘s ongoing split series with Turned to Stone Ch. 10, there’s an element of continuity. All the more since Isaksen is featuring in Ten East as well alongside Arce and drummer Bill Stinson (Yawning Man). Dan Joeright played on the first Softsun album, so I can’t help but wonder if he’s back in the lineup or what will feature on this split LP was recorded earlier. If I find out, I’ll let you know.

Either way, if you dig resonance, the 10-minute single “First Light” is up now and — bonus — it’s got Isaiah Mitchell from Earthless adding lead work. Call that time well spent.

From the PR wire:

Californian psych units TEN EAST and SOFTSUN team up for split LP release on Ripple Music this spring; first track with Isaiah Mitchell of Earthless streaming!

Drawing from the deep well of the California desert, psychedelic rock units SoftSun and Ten East (featuring Isaiah Mitchell of Earthless) conjure a mesmerizing sonic mirage on their upcoming split LP “Turned To Stone Chapter 10”, to be issued on April 4th through Ripple Music.

Stream new Ten East single “First Light” here: https://lnkfi.re/teneastlight

Shortly after forming in late 2023, SoftSun — the project formed by guitarist Gary Arce of Yawning Man, bassist and vocalist Pia Isaksen and drummer Dan Joeright — had a highly productive time recording in both 2024 and 2025. After finishing their debut album Daylight in the Dark, the band had more material they wanted to record and finished three more songs for Ripple Music. Gary Arce then came up with the idea of releasing the songs as part of a split album with his other project Ten East, which had been quiet for some years. Inspired to write new Ten East songs, he put together a recording session with Yawning Man drummer Bill Stinson and Pia Isaksen on bass, and later had Isaiah Mitchell of Earthless record some additional guitar.

“We are really excited to release this split album with these songs that we have been sitting on for quite some time. They are definitely part of our first album era and they mean a lot to us. It is also really cool to do this with Ten East, and to be part of Ripple Music´s split series.” — Gary Arce & Pia Isaksen

Stellar players, mesmeric sound and the soul of the Californian desert: SoftSun and Ten East deliver a rad split album that locks you into a hypnotic groove and refuses to let go. Turned To Stone Chapter 10 will be released as part of Ripple Music’s fan-revered Turned To Stone split series on April 4th on limited LP and digital.

TEN EAST & SOFTSUN “Turned To Stone Chapter 10”
Out April 4th on Ripple Music (LP/digital)

TRACKLIST:
1. SoftSun – Nowhere Else
2. SoftSun – Open Shelter
3. SoftSun – Emotional Overdrive
4. Ten East – First Light
5. Ten East – Slow Motion War II

Ten East:
Gary Arce – Guitars
Isaiah Mitchell – Additional guitars
Bass – Pia Isaksen
Bill Stinson – Drums

Softsun:
Gary Arce – Guitars
Pia Isaksen – Bass and vocals
Dan Joeright – Drums

https://teneast.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/teneastband/
https://www.facebook.com/teneast/

https://softsunband.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/softsunofficial/
https://www.facebook.com/people/SoftSun/61557870166741/

http://www.ripple-music.com/
https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/ripplemusic/
https://www.facebook.com/theripplemusic/

Ten East, “First Light”

Who’s up for a potentially-life-changing weekend in the desert? Well, me, for one. Barring a magic invite, I don’t imagine I’ll be there to see the inaugural Mojave Experience Festival when it takes place over two days next March, but looking at the lineup I fail to see how you wouldn’t want to. Look at that Friday bill. They call it a pre-party. Look at that Saturday bill! How many nights in your life are you going to be treated to a succession of acts like that?

It was pretty clear out of the gate — Dead Meadow and Earthless were the first two bands announced — that Mojave Experience meant business this first time out. I don’t know if this is a one-time thing or if there are intentions toward an annual happening, but either way, the assembled lineup crosses generations and stylistic borders, fostering an immediate sense of identity that’s tied to the history of the Californian desert underground with the likes of Mario Lalli, John Garcia, Gary Arce, Nick Oliveri and The Freeks involved, but that is already looking to reach beyond those geographic and aesthetic confines as well, whether that’s the doom of L.A.’s Early Moods or the acidblasting psych of Philly’s Ecstatic Vision. SoftSun and Borracho. Acid King and Hippie Death Cult. I could just go on saying names until I’ve said them all. None of them suck.

Mario Lalli posted the full bill on socials:

🔥 MOJAVE EXPERIENCE 2026 — FULL LINEUP REVEAL 🔥

🎟️ mojaveexperience.net

March 20–21 • Joshua Tree, CA

The dust has settled… and the full lineup is here. Two days !

FRIDAY • Mojave Gold (Pre-Party)
Rubber Snake Charmers feat. Sean Wheeler
The Freeks
Arthur Seay & The RiffKillers
Borracho
Insomniac
SoftSun

SATURDAY • Joshua Tree Lake (Main Event)
Earthless
Dead Meadow
John Garcia
Acid King
Yawning Man
Hippie Death Cult
Nick Oliveri’s Death Acoustic
Ecstatic Vision
Howling Giant
Early Moods

Single-day Riff Rider Passes drop Dec 5 — Friday or Saturday, your choice.
Two-day bundles already gone.

https://www.mojaveexperience.net
https://instagram.com/mojave_experience_festival
https://www.facebook.com/mojave.experience.festival/

Borracho, Ouroboros (2025)

SoftSun, Eternal Sunrise (2025)

Eternal Sunrise is the second full-length from SoftSun, following behind Nov. 2024’s Daylight in the Dark (review here), as well as their first release through Heavy Psych Sounds. Like that album, the six-song/40-minute Eternal Sunrise features drums by the recording engineer — in this case that’s Robert Garson at Red Barn Recorders, who also mixed — and furthers the collaboration between bassist/vocalist Pia Isaksen (of Oslo’s Superlynx and her own Pia Isa solo work) and guitarist Gary Arce (Yawning Man, Big Scenic Nowhere, Zun, etc.), whose tonal blend and the mellow-complement of Isaksen‘s voice create a feel that’s both textural and organic, able to be open-spaced as in the finale “Cremation Sunlight” or to find a heavy-post-rock wash in the midsection of “Anywhere But Here.”

Those who heard the first record will find the sophomore outing operating in a similar vein. By and large, the mood is serene and exploratory, as a piece like the opening roller “Sacred Heart” (not a Dio cover) unfolds with strident punctuation in the drums and despite that a fervent sense of Eternal Sunrise as a place to dwell. This was true of Daylight in the Dark as well — one will note the on-theme title of the follow-up; songs like “Sleep the Day Away” and “Cremation Sunlight” seem to be working to capture a place and time too, and fair enough — as not only is place declared in big bright letters that say ‘desert’ to the indoctrinated heads who will no doubt make up the majority of the album’s listenership, but there’s a spirit and declaration of self-in-place as well. That is to say, as much as Eternal Sunrise feels primarily geared toward giving their audience space for itself in the material — which they do, amply and ably — but finding space for themselves in the songs too. There is no undercutting the value of a place to be in this day and age, finding a deeper resonance with the moment you’re living through. That seems to be happening in these songs for this version of this project.

It happens through a combination of elements, and the core of SoftSun remains how well Isaksen and Arce pair musically. Isaksen‘s bass feels richer and more present in tone on Eternal Sunrise in pieces like “Sleep the Day Away” and in the second half of side A’s slow-churning second cut “A Hundred and Sixteen,” with a slow and molten fluidity that — in complement to Garson‘s drumming, which for sure is the grounding element throughout — gives Arce‘s signature guitar tone a corresponding lower-frequency to float over. Vocals are languid in their delivery, breathy and melodic; shoegazey, for want of a better word. But as Isaksen has showed time and again, she’s able to bring emotion to a heavier movement, and the penultimate “Abandoned Lands” shows this as Isaksen (in layers), Arce and Garson follow a subtle structure while continuing their focus on immersion. A verse changing to a chorus might just happen with an emphasized syllable, and the solo might just be a howl in the night. Where you go with it is up to you.

“Anywhere But Here” closes aide A and is the shortest inclusion at 4:53. More linear than verse/chorus in feel, it feels more exploratory than some of the jam-born-but-worked-on material that surrounds, but was likely included on the record because how much it encapsulates and says about where this band is at this point. With Garson steadily keeping things moving beneath, Isaksen and Arce set forth a tonal shimmer and fill it out with verses that are somewhat obscure in the lyrics but clear in the melody just the same. If it’s escapism, as the title hints, it seems to have a clearer idea of where it wants to be than the title might lead one to believe. In closing the album, “Cremation Sunlight” (also the longest track at 8:28) enacts a few bursts of guitar noise that hint toward synthier or more psychedelic improving or just more weirdness to come, none of which is reason to complain as Arce‘s solo rises before the comedown to finish out.

Like a lot of Eternal Sunrise, it’s pretty simple math in terms of each of these players — and I’m not discounting Garson‘s contributions here, either behind the kit or the mixing board — particularly Arce and Isaksen bringing recognizable personality aspects to the band and SoftSun deriving its own persona from the combination. There are balance shifts throughout in tempo, in who’s written what part, in how the vocals might flow alongside a guitar that’s mostly worked instrumental for the last 40 years, and those serve to make Eternal Sunrise that much broader, and at no point do SoftSun step away from the atmosphere they’re creating as they go. If anything, at the moment where they otherwise might have, “Sleep the Day Away” doubles down on the entrancing scope with its reaching-into-the-ether solo. By the time it’s done, your head’s deeper into it than you realized.

That SoftSun turned around Eternal Sunrise in a year’s time speaks to the band’s having some measure of priority in relation to other ongoing projects, whether that’s Arce in Yawning Man — who also have a new record out this week, called Pavement Ends (review here) — or Isaksen in her solo work, and an urgency that might seem counterintuitive to the quiet nature of the songs if you’ve never been in love before. As it stands, I won’t predict what’s to come for SoftSun, but I’m glad to have Eternal Sunrise as an answer to Daylight in the Dark, and it feels like if they keep the band going on the path they’re on now, an organic progression in songwriting is taking hold as the Arce/Isaksen collab becomes more familiar and each has a better sense of what to expect from the other. They succeed in giving Eternal Sunrise the breadth that feels so intentionally made for the listener to lose themselves in, and show that there’s still more ground in the infinite unknown to cover.

SoftSun, Eternal Sunrise (2025)

SoftSun on Bandcamp

SoftSun on Instagram

SoftSun on Facebook

Heavy Psych Sounds website

Heavy Psych Sounds on Bandcamp

Heavy Psych Sounds on Instagram

Heavy Psych Sounds on Facebook

Looking forward to this one, which I know is a thing I say all the time, but it’s true nonetheless. I look forward to a lot of music coming out and I consider myself lucky for that. In the case of SoftSun, the project that unites vocalist/bassist Pia Isaksen (Superlynx, her own Pia Isa solo work) with guitarist Gary Arce (Yawning Man and the adjacent ecosystem of bands) and that debuted last year with Daylight in the Dark (review here) would seem to have found a new day in their second album, Eternal Sunrise. There’s no music from the record — which sees them swap out drummer Dan Joeright, who recorded the last album, for Robert Garson, who recorded this one — yet, but that’ll come, and don’t forget that Arce will be pulling double-duty as SoftSun and Yawning Man tour Europe together this Fall.

Those dates and all preorder whatnot for Eternal Sunrise follow, as per the PR wire. Album is out Nov. 7 on Heavy Psych Sounds:

Heavy Psych Sounds to announce SOFTSUN brand new album ETERNAL SUNRISE – presale

– sophomore album for the Californian psychedelic band feat. Gary Arce from Yawning Man –

Today we are happy to start the presale of the SOFTSUN upcoming brand new album ETERNAL SUNRISE !!

First single will be released on Friday 22nd August, stay tuned..

RELEASE DATE: NOVEMBER 7th

ALBUM PRESALE: https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop.htm#HPS371

USA PRESALE: https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop-usa.htm#HPS371

RELEASED IN
10 ULTRA LTD TEST PRESS VINYL
100 ULTRA LTD 3 COLOR STRIPED MAGENTA-BLUE-TRANSP. YELLOW + SPLATTER IN BLACK VINYL
300 LTD AQUA BLUE VINYL
BLACK VINYL
DIGIPAK
DIGITAL

TRACKLIST
SIDE A
Sacred Heart – 7:34
A Hundred And Sixteen – 8:06
Anywhere But Here – 4:53
SIDE B
Sleep The Day Away – 6:25
Abandoned Lands – 5:29
Cremation Sunlight – 8:28

ALBUM DESCRIPTION

SoftSun was formed in 2023 by guitarist Gary Arce (Yawning Man) and bassist/vocalist Pia Isaksen (PIA ISA). On their second album they are joined by Robert Garson on drums.

The band is experimenting with sounds and are difficult to place in a specific genre. They have a style of their own with contrasts of softness and distortion, beauty and noise and emotional peaks and valleys. The music is patient, heavy and dreamy, with haunting vocals and beautiful guitars drenched in distortion and reverb over patient and thought out drums.

The songs are flowing slowly and take inspiration from both the Californian desert landscapes to the Norwegian oceans where the two founding members come from.

On this second record SoftSun has developed their sound further and sound both moody, experimental, beautiful, and raw.

CREDITS
All music and lyrics by Gary Arce and Pia Isaksen
Recorded, mixed and produced by Robert Garson at Red Barn Recorders
Vocals recorded by Pia Isaksen
Mastered by Mike Shear
Front cover original photo by Allan Rodrigues
Design and photos by Pia Isaksen

SOFTSUN W/ YAWNING MAN EUROPEAN TOUR
18.11.25 (NL) Utrecht, dB’s
19.11.25 (NL) Eindhoven, Effenaar
20.11.25 (GER) Hannover, Faust (Mephisto)
21.11.25 (DK) Kopenhagen, Stengade
22.11.25 (GER) Oldenburg, MTS Records
23.11.25 (GER) Hamburg, Molotow
24.11.25 (GER) Berlin, Neue Zukunft
25.11.25 (PL) Warsaw, Hydrozagadka
27.11.25 (PL) Kraków, Gwarek
28.11.25 (PL) Katowice, PiAty Dom
29.11.25 (GER) Dresden, Ostpol
30.11.25 (GER) München, Backstage (Halle)
01.12.25 (GER) Nürnberg, KV im Z- Bau
02.12.25 (AT) Salzburg, Rockhouse Bar
03.12.25 (AT) Wien, Viper Room
04.12.25 (CRO) Zagreb, Vintage Industrial
05.12.25 (ITL) Mezzago (MB), Bloom
06.12.25 (CH) Oberentfelden, Böröm pöm pöm
07.12.25 (FR) Barberaz, Brin de Zinc
09.12.25 (CH) Martigny, Sunset Bar
10.12.25 (GER) Stuttgart, Goldmarks
11.12.25 (GER) Karlsruhe, Alte Hackerei
12.12.25 (GER) Rüsselsheim, Das Rind
13.12.25 (GER) Aachen, Musikbunker
14.12.25 (GER) Köln, Kantine (Yard Club)
15.12.25 (BEL) Ittre, Zik Zak

SoftSun lineup:
Guitars: Gary Arce
Bass and vocals: Pia Isaksen
Drums: Robert Garson

https://softsunband.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/softsunofficial/
https://www.facebook.com/people/SoftSun/61557870166741/

SoftSun, Daylight in the Dark (2024)

SoftSun is the three-piece of bassist/vocalist Pia Isaksen, guitarist Gary Arce and drummer Dan Joeright, all of whom come to the new project with pedigree. Joeright was in Aboleth and Earth Moon Earth, and has recorded some of Arce‘s other projects in recent years, whether it’s desert rock progenitors Yawning Man, which Arce co-founded in the 1980s or Big Scenic Nowhere, and Arce played guitar on three of the songs on the 2022 solo debut from Isaksen (who also fronts Oslo’s Superlynx), Distorted Chants (review here), and six of the eight total on this year’s follow-up, Dissolve (review here), so nobody is a stranger to each other here. If one were to view Daylight in the Dark, the first SoftSun full-length, as following the thread of the two Isaksen solo records in tightening the collaboration with Arce with Joeright producing (Aaron Farinelli co-engineered) and drumming, that’s a fair enough contextual read on how the band might’ve happened, if not necessarily the actual story of the six-song/41-minute record, which lives up to the adage of being broader than the sum of its parts.

For those who know Arce‘s oeuvre in Yawning Man, Yawning Sons, Yawning Balch, Ten East, Dark Tooth Encounter, and so on, he’s on form throughout Daylight in the Dark, harnessing tonal expanse and a sense of improvised instrumental exploration set to the steady grooves of Joeright; very much the daylight to the encompassing low end wrought in Isaksen‘s basslines, which in turn become the ‘dark’ being referenced in the title. What’s not accounted for in that admittedly simple math are Isaksen‘s vocals, which through Superlynx and into her solo work carry an ethereal reverb like a resonant calling card. Her performance on vocals here is emotive and fragile — on “Continents” she asks for a shifting of tectonic plates with particular longing, and the bleaker “Exit Wounds” is greeted with due brooding — and balanced dynamically in the mix to be more forward at times while buried elsewhere within the morass of effects and psychedelic-leaning fluidity.

This is all well and good, but what’s most surprising about Daylight in the Dark ends up being how heavy it is. Opener “Unholy Waters,” “Daylight in the Dark” and “Exit Wounds” appear in succession before side A closes with “Continents,” and through all of them, the upward float of Arce‘s guitar — which is as staple an element as you get; it’s what he does, and oftentimes even his repeated riffs are structured airy leads — is answered decisively with the low breadth of Isaksen‘s tone. On “Exit Wounds,” the bass is outright doomed, and even “Continents,” which is a bit more gentle in pushing the vocals forward and gives a little more of a verse/chorus feel than, say, the title-track, which also has a structure but feels as much about ambience as it reaches simultaneously upward and down tonally in exactly this fashion. That dynamic would seem to put Joeright in the middle of the proceedings in the holding-it-all-together role, but that’s not really the case. It’s not like Daylight in the Dark is a collection of disparate jams. These are composed songs — when the title-track seems to take off right as it hits the midpoint, it’s not an accident — and however nebulous their outward face might be, the chemistry and persona behind them is purposeful and something that has developed over several years.

That gives SoftSun something of an advantage going into a first record, but hearing Daylight in the Dark in comparison to Isaksen‘s Dissolve — which is probably the closest analogue; released the same year with at least two-thirds the same personnel working from a similar foundation of influence — it feels like Isaksen and Arce, in company with Joeright, have organically arrived at a next stage of working together, and that’s the band itself. What might be most encouraging about that is the sense of refresh they give to each other’s sounds. From Mario Lalli to Billy Cordell and plenty of others besides, Arce has played with more than a handful of bassists over the last 30-plus years. Isaksen‘s low end complements his guitar like none of them. It comes from a different place — yes, literally, from Norway, but I’m talking stylistically — and feels more rooted in metal and, as noted, doom, while both instrument and vocals are treated with echo and whatever else such that even the violent implications of a song like the penultimate “Dragged Across the Desert Floor” becomes a gorgeously languid roll with the blend of daylight, dark, and groove that comprises it.

Not only that, but the bass seems to be a feature in Joeright‘s mix for these songs more than it often is in Arce‘s work. One might be tempted to compare SoftSun and the Arce-inclusive one-off Zun album from 2016, Burial Sunrise (review here) — or at least the half of it that Sera Timms (Black Math Horseman) sang on —  but in that too, the bass shines in righteous differentiation. Daylight in the Dark is richer for the depth, and even as the eponymous “Soft Sun” closes as the longest inclusion at over 11 minutes long, what’s being reinforced — expanded on, even, with keyboard-esque sounds that emerge in the early going and meld with the guitar if they were ever there in the first place — is the distinct impression that the album makes separate either from any of these three artists’ previous work.

Sound like hyperbole, I know. I’m not saying that Isaksen‘s voice and bass or Arce‘s guitar aren’t recognizable in the slow immersion of “Soft Sun,” but that like the album that precedes it, the finale emphasizes how much the two bring to the band’s sound and how well their styles play off of each other. The result — and I’m not trying to downplay Joeright‘s contributions, either on drums or in the recording process; clearly he’s essential personnel — is that SoftSun occupies a new niche branched off from all three respective discographies, and the only remaining question I’m left with is what the future will bring. Could be SoftSun is a one-shot deal and Isaksen, Arce and Joeright will go their separate ways, or Daulight in the Dark could very easily be the beginning of a longer-term aural progression, putting a different spin on heavy post-rock and desert-hued psych and growing as the band — live shows? — moves forward. This debut, a first showing of who SoftSun are and what they might become over time, leaves one hopeful.

SoftSun, Daylight in the Dark (2024)

SoftSun, “Unholy Waters” official video

SoftSun on Facebook

SoftSun on Instagram

SoftSun on Bandcamp

SoftSun on Spotify

Ripple Music on Facebook

Ripple Music on Instagram

Ripple Music on Bandcamp

Ripple Music website

There’s a chant-like quality to Gary Arce‘s guitar on the first SoftSun single from their upcoming debut album, Daylight in the Dark, and if “Unholy Water” is representative in any way of the scope of the rest of the LP — as one would hope, considering it’s also the first song the project has ever released — that will be just fine for how fluidly Pia Isaksen‘s vocals rest alongside.

Isaksen, also of Superlynx and adjacent solo work, and Arce, also of Yawning Man and numerous orbital projects, are joined in SoftSun by drummer/engineer Dan Joeright, also of Earth Moon Earth, who gives shape to the flow on “Unholy Water,” and while it should come as no surprise to anybody familiar with any of the trio’s work elsewhere that atmosphere is a central focus, it is, and it works. You know who they are. They know who they are. Everybody vibes accordingly.

As previously announced, it’s Ripple Music handling the release, and I look forward to exhausting my metaphors for languid, liquefied groove sometime between now and Nov. 8 when Daylight in the Dark comes out. Until that happens, here’s this from the PR wire:

SOFTSUN (with Yawning Man, Pia Isa members) to release debut album “Daylight in the Dark” on Ripple Music; first track streaming!

SoftSun, the new dronegaze and post-rock trio formed by Gary Arce (Yawning Man, Fatso Jetson) on guitar, Pia Isaksen (Pia Isa) on bass and vocals and Dan Joeright (Earth Moon Earth) on drums, announce the release of their debut album “Daylight in the Dark” this November 8th through Ripple Music.

SoftSun is the result of a divine collaboration between very unique and visionary musicians. Pia Isaksen and Gary Arce along with Dan Joeright come from opposite sides of the world. Vocalist and bass player Pia Isaksen grew up in Norway, while Gary Arce and drummer Dan Joeright are based in the Southern California Mojave desert.

The environments they occupy are evident in the beautifully heavy yet ethereal sound of this band. Arce’s dreamscaping cinematic guitar work gives a stark contrast of balance to the heavy melodic bass driven compositions. Pia’s voice, ethereal in nature, levitates the sound and brings a dreamlike shoegaze quality to the songs. Cocteau Twins, True Widow, Yawning Man, Diiv would be appropriate reference points for this unique approach to songwriting.

Debut album “Daylight in the Dark”
Out November 8th on Ripple Music (LP/CD/digital)

TRACKLIST:
1. Unholy Waters
2. Daylight in the Dark
3. Exit Wounds
4. Continents
5. Dragged Across the Desert Floor
6. Soft Sun

SoftSun was formed in 2023 by Gary Arce, Pia Isaksen and Dan Joeright after Arce and Isaksen had been wanting to make music together for several years. It all started in 2020 when Arce played guitar on the first album by Isaksen’s solo project Pia Isa. Discovering how perfect their musical expressions fit together they knew they really wanted to create more music together. With Arce’s unique and beautiful guitar melodies and sounds, Isaksen’s heavy bass and haunting vocals combined with Joeright’s perfectly patient drumming, SoftSun delivers heavy mellow and dreamy music with its own sound.

After a few years of collaborating on two of Pia’s albums from opposite sides of the planet (Moss in Norway and Yucca Valley in California) and becoming good friends, Gary and Pia finally met in person in late 2023. They instantly became inseparable and started planning their musical project.

The first SoftSun songs were written by Pia in Moss and sent to with Gary who wrote guitar melodies for them in Yucca Valley before Pia then got on the plane to California in January 2024. During three weeks they wrote more songs and got together with drummer and studio owner Dan Joeright who turned out to be a perfect fit for the band. After only three practices and two and a half days in Gatos Trail Recording Studio, the trio recorded their first album live. The vocals were done by Pia back in Norway before. Dan then mixed the album. On Pia’s next trip to California six weeks later, the trio booked another studio session and recorded a few more songs. The result is their debut album “Daylight in the Dark”, to be released in November 2024 through Californian independent label Ripple Music.

The album was engineered by Dan Joeright and Aaron Farinelli at Gatos Trail Recording Studio, mixed by Dan Joeright and mastered by Kent Stump. Artwork and layout by Pia Isaksen.

SOFTSUN line-up
Gary Arce – Guitars
Pia Isaksen – Bass and vocals
Dan Joeright – Drums

Photo by @aaronfarinelli

https://www.facebook.com/people/SoftSun/61557870166741/
https://www.instagram.com/softsunofficial/
https://softsunband.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0koex03KctujRuxwz8bNhu

https://www.facebook.com/theripplemusic/
https://www.instagram.com/ripplemusic/
https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/
http://www.ripple-music.com/

SoftSun, Daylight in the Dark (2024)

SoftSun, “Unholy Waters” official video