At a special release show at the Hotel Café Tuesday night, Zach Rogue of Rogue Wave debuted his latest side project, Release The Sunbird. Hearing the words “side” and “project” oftentimes translates to artists going on holiday from their regular work and veering off into the opposite side of the musical spectrum, sometimes making for great music – sometimes not. The latter certainly isn’t true of Zach’s newest experiment, as Come Back To Us is hardly a departure from the lucent style of Rogue Wave, just a little more mellow.
Release The Sunbird gave a sun-kissed performance that brightened the usually dimly lit Hotel Café, beginning with “Always Like The Son,” a song that made me think of lazy summer days where you don’t have much to worry about. Following this opener was “Come Back To Us,” which is a slightly more up-tempo song and includes, like the majority of their songs, a lot of pretty vocal repetition. When they performed “Best Thing For Me,” the crowd was really given a tasty sampling of Zach Rogue’s voice.
The set list seemed to build on each song, going from slow and syrupy to brighter and faster. Release The Sunbird shook this pattern up with an occasional drop to a tranquil tune, as they did when they played “It’s All Around You” and then “No Light.” This certainly kept the audience on its toes and wanting more. The highlight of the evening was their song “Running Away From Me,” a poignant tune about being a parent. When Zach announced this, a collective “aw” was emitted from the audience. And, as parents could attest, this song sounds like it could be in a cute commercial of a child joyously/mischievously playing hide-and-seek from a slightly annoyed parent.
The album release show featured all of the tracks from Release the Sunbird’s debut album in addition to a new song not included on the album. To close out the evening, the band played “Outlook’s Anonymous,” my favorite song off the album. Mixing three-part harmonies and a little bit of synthy-organ, this song made for a beautiful, swaying exit.
As far as new side projects go, Zach Rogue’s Release The Sunbird is one of the best out there right now. Come Back To Us doesn’t completely throw the listener for a loop with a trying-too-hard-to-sound-different vibe, but it still manages to be unique by pairing the artist’s taste with new cast of characters. If you have the opportunity to check them out in the near future, I would suggest doing so.
For more information on Release The Sunbird:
