Last month, the Austin band Sun June announced a new album, Bad Dream Jaguar, and shared its lead single “Get Enough.” Today, they’re back with a pair of new tracks, “Easy Violence” and “John Prine,” both understated and lovely. The former is centered around some imagery that gives the album its name: “Had the bad dream of the jaguar come to kill me/ Yeah It’s been a while/ Saw the red sun, low and constant/ Everything I’ve done, easy violence.” Check them out and read the band’s statement on the tracks below.
“‘Easy violence’ is about the fears you become attached to and the mistakes you try to outrun. We’re talking peak White Horse 2013. The song started out as a demo we recorded at home. We liked the ‘voice memos’ feel and we ended up keeping the drum machine, guitars, synths, and the first-take vocals. We fleshed out the rest with the band in Dan Duszynski’s studio. For the video we got our friend Lauren Wilde to turn Laura into a jaguar for a staged photo shoot. It was fun to capture Laura begrudgingly surrender to a marketing campaign. The image of her driving through LA traffic alone with her makeup still on made us laugh — a hangover of self promotion.
‘John Prine’ is about appreciating something for the first time after it’s already over, and struggling to let it go. It’s also a shout out to my father who loves to say, ‘I’m not asleep, I’m just resting my eyes.’ The song was recorded in North Carolina by Alli Rogers and features Justin Morris (Sluice, Fust) on pedal steel. When Dan Duszynski mixed it he morphed the pedal steel into something more haunting and more ghostly (and more sleepy). We wanted the video to capture the feeling of coming down after a long night or a short visit with someone you miss, the kind of daze that’s a mix of longing and appreciation. I am not a morning person, but I really wish I were.
TOUR DATES:
11/02 Somerville, MA @ Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theatre *
11/03 Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom *
11/04 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge *
11/05 Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right *
11/07 Washington, DC @ DC9 *
11/08 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 *
01/04 Houston, TX @ House of Blues ^
01/05 San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger ^
01/06 Austin, TX @ Emo’s ^
01/07 Fort Worth, TX @ Tulips FTW ^
01/09 Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf ^
01/10 Tucson, AZ @ 191 Toole ^
01/11 Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom ^
01/12 San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park ^
01/13 Los Angeles, CA @ The Theater at Ace Hotel ^
01/14 San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore ^
01/16 Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst ^
01/17 Sacramento, CA @ Crest Theatre ^
01/19 Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall ^
01/20 Seattle, WA @ The Showbox ^
01/21 Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre ^
* w/ Runnner
^ w/ Slaughter Beach, Dog
Bad Dream Jaguar is out 10/20 via Run For Cover.
