"Sunglasses" is a song by English
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
Black Country, New Road
Black Country, New Road (commonly abbreviated to BCNR or BC,NR) are an English rock band formed in Cambridgeshire in 2018, consisting of Tyler Hyde (vocals, bass), Lewis Evans (vocals, flute, saxophone), May Kershaw (vocals, keys), Georgia Elle ...
. It was released first as a single on 26 July 2019, through Blank Editions. A different and longer version of the song was released on 5 February 2021, for their debut album, ''
For the First Time''. The song has been described as
post-punk
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...
and
post-rock
Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with ...
.
2019 version
"Sunglasses" was Black Country, New Road's second single, following "Athens, France" from January 2019. The song is nine minutes long and features instruments such as
saxophone
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...
and
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
alongside a rock ensemble.
The song has been described as "a wild ride, morphing from
post-rock
Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with ...
to
post-punk
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...
to an explosion of
free-jazzy noise"
and "poetic hysteria in a turbulent yet addictive
brass
Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...
-flecked track".
"Sunglasses" was released digitally via Speedy Wunderground and physically via Blank Editions. There were three different
7-inch
In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separat ...
pressings, each with different covers: the first was limited to 500 copies with every copy having a different picture featured on the cover, making each copy unique; the second limited to 250, with the cover art featuring a marching band; and the third with an "undisclosed" number of copies featuring a picture of the band assembling the first pressing. The first pressing sold out within 2 hours. For the second pressing, the 250 copies were split, with 130 being available online, and the rest distributed to "select record stores".
Each edition cost the same price of 11 GBP ( USD).
The digital release of the song included an abridged four-and-a-half minute long
edit
Edit may refer to:
Concepts
* an action that is part of an editing process (including of images, video, and film)
* a particular version that is the result of editing, especially of film (for example, fan edit), or music (for example, radi ...
of the song.
2021 version
A different, 10-minute re-recording of the song was made for Black Country, New Road's debut album, ''
For the First Time'', which was released through
Ninja Tune
Ninja Tune is an English independent record label based in London. It has a satellite office in Los Angeles. It was founded by Matt Black and Jonathan More (better known as Coldcut) and managed by Peter Quicke and others.
Inspired by a visit ...
. This version features a slow distorted guitar intro not included in the 2019 version, along with subtle differences, such as lines being changed. Isaac Wood's spoken word vocals become a more subtle singing, and have a more "conscious control over the song's sonic range" overall, as saxophonist Lewis Evans explains.
Track listing
References
{{BCNR
2019 singles
British rock songs
Post-punk songs
Post-rock songs