Austin dream pop band Sun June have just released their new album Bad Dream Jaguar on Run For Cover (order yours). It’s a gorgeous batch of songs, ethereal but with a folky quality–especialy in Laura Colwell’s arresting voice. The band calls the album “a collection of fears, frustrations, and desires, feeling the weight of the relationship you love as it goes through cycles of loneliness and pleasure. We lean in to dislocation, we construct elaborate excuses, we try to leave Texas behind.”
To give us a deeper look into the album, the band have made us a list of other music that influenced it, including Feist, Frank Ocean, Loma, Caroline Says, and more, with commentary on each pick. Read on to stream the album and see what they had to say.
Sun June also have a tour this fall with their RFC labelmates Runnner (including a show at Brooklyn’s Baby’s All Right on 11/5 that’s also with Greg Mendez) and a January tour with Slaughter Beach, Dog. All dates are listed at the bottom of this post.
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INFLUENCES ON SUN JUNE’S BAD DREAM JAGUAR
DYAN – “Dark Streets”
Our admiration for Alexis Marsh’s DYAN began with the song “Looking For Knives,” and took off from there. Her music for film and television expanded our love for her aesthetic choices and arrangements. Her latest song Dark Streets accompanied a film we both worked on called The Unknown Country. We got to talking/gushing about each other’s work and decided to collaborate on some Sun June songs. She ended up playing, recording, and arranging woodwinds for half the songs on Bad Dream Jaguar. Her contributions are some of our favorite parts, and she’ll be joining us on some of our tour dates.
Loma – “Black Willow”
This song is one of many reasons why we wanted to work with Dan Duszynski on this record. It’s so murky and layered and rewards repeat listening. Dan makes his own Beatles-esque pop music as Any Kind, but he can also collaborate on moodier stuff like Loma. We knew he could bring both his pop instincts and his darker ideas to the record.
Ryan Sambol – “You’re Still Loveable to Someone“
This might be the song of the decade. It’s so worn in. It’s warm but steely. It’s like Texas country Lou Reed. We wanted to attempt the same clarity on some of our songs.
Caroline Says – “Ohio River“
Caroline Says has been an influence since we first started seeing her live, back when we were starting the band. This song is one of her best — a sad bop with perfect American imagery. “For a minute we were able to forget it” is a line we’d like to steal. It also has sneaky congas — just like our song “Moon Ahead.” We’ll be on tour with her in November and we are going to be requesting this song every night.
Popol Vuh – “Sing, For Song Drives Away The Wolves” (the song)
Michael, our guitarist, was listening to a lot of Popol Vuh last year. His layered single-chord parts in “Easy Violence” were directly inspired by his compositions. He brought the song to an entirely different place.
Joseph Shabason – Anne
Some influences are aspirational. We listened to Anne all the time in 2021 and 2022. The house we were living in then was very dark in the mornings. Anne fit the mood. It’s lush but never overwrought – it’s perfect for both active and passive listening. You can focus on one or two things or let it wash over you. It was a big influence on the tone of Bad Dream Jaguar.
Feist – Pleasure (the album)
Pleasure is one of our favorite records. It’s so patient and self-assured. It has a limited palette but it is so much stronger for it. We leaned into dry acoustic guitar on Bad Dream Jaguar. And we really tried to keep some songs simple, and not overload them. Pleasure helped inspire that.
Frank Ocean – “Nikes“
This will forever be an influence but we fear you’ll never be able to hear it. This song builds so simply and perfectly. Sometimes we listen just to follow the high hats. Punk music is just amateur musicians trying to mimic better bands. Parts of Bad Dream Jaguar is us trying to be Frank Ocean. It’s punk as hell.
Sun June — 2023/2024 Tour Dates
11/2 – Somerville, MA @ Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theatre *
11/3 – Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom *
11/4 – New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge *
11/5 – Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right *
11/7 – Washington, DC @ DC9 *
11/8 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s *
11/10 – Nashville, TN @ Blue Room *
11/11 – Atlanta, GA @ Purgatory *
11/12 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle Back Room *
11/13 – Asheville, NC @ Eulogy *
11/16 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Beer City Music Hall *
11/17 – Dallas, TX @ Deep Ellum Art Co. *
11/18 – Austin, TX @ Parish *
1/4 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues ^
1/5 – San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger ^
1/6 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s ^
1/7 – Fort Worth, TX @ Tulips FTW ^
1/9 – Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf ^
1/10 – Tucson, AZ @ 191 Toole ^
1/11 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom ^
1/12 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park ^
1/13 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Theater at Ace Hotel ^
1/14 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore ^
1/16 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst ^
1/17 – Sacramento, CA @ Crest Theatre ^
1/19 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall ^
1/20 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox ^
1/21 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre ^
* w/ Runnner
^ w/ Slaughter Beach, Dog