The Leaf Label

August 19th, 2022

Szun Waves – Earth Patterns out now

It’s taken its sweet time, but Szun Waves’ majestic new album, Earth Patterns, is ripe for the listening. “We started making the record in 2019,” Luke Abbott explains. “So this one has taken longer than usual, but things have been weird for a while. We have this improvisational way of working, which means we end up with recordings that are sometimes unwieldy and often surprising to us. The record took a while to make sense. When we first did the recording sessions, I don’t think we understood what we’d made. It took the world turning upside down to give a new perspective on it.”

After doing battle with the vinyl manufacturing and global shipping gods, we’re delighted to have a global release date – a rare thing! The vinyl editions have turned out beautifully, even if we do say so ourselves. Dom Harwood’s detailed work on all visual aspects of the album – from the artwork to the videos – has come together for an incredibly satisfying package.

“Earth Patterns has the kind of definite, deliberate form and atmosphere – earthbound and weather-beaten, yearning, devotional and rebellious – that tends only to arise from taking extended time to listen and sculpt”
9/10, Loud & Quiet

“The Sun-ra-like intensity, dripping synth menace and haunted sax screed seemingly locked in a spiritual quest – delve deeper still, suggesting Szun Waves’ free seeking mystical adventures still have plenty of ground yet to run”
4/5, Mojo

“Earth Patterns is an abstract hymn to nature, pulling order from apparent chaos and finding sense from the sensuous”
Electronic Sound

You’ll find Earth Patterns in all good record shops now. The Dinked Edition pressed on orange vinyl with black splatter, screenprinted PVC outer sleeve and a 16-page photobook numbered in the Fibonacci sequence is available at select stores. The ‘brown smoke’ vinyl edition is available on Bandcamp and there’s also an exclusive T-shirt design and your standard or garden variety CD and black vinyl editions. There’s also a bundle combining both Leaf albums, which may be of interest to those seeking a bargain.