sunsetto

Album review by Gabrielle Groves

From dreaming about releasing an album as a kid to having a billboard promoting his debut album in Yonge-Dundas Square, it's safe to say Kyle Mischiek (better known by his stage name sunsetto) will always have a special place in his heart for music. The proud Nova Scotian spent a big part of his life either listening to or learning how to create music. He even credits the songs on THE SUN, THE MOON & THE BIG MACHINE with “probably sav[ing] [his] life” in an emotional video diary posted the day before the album’s release.

THE SUN, THE MOON & THE BIG MACHINE is a blackbear-esque fusion of pop and R&B with an aesthetic built on the beauty of nature, particularly the desert and space. The songs are honest and have sunsetto thinking about prior decisions and relationships, as well as future ones. In the song ‘SHE’S THE WHOLE WORLD,’ he is gushing about a girl he believes is more beautiful than some of the most well-known sights in nature. He sings, “I know there’s still a million things // on earth I haven’t seen // and if I never do it’s fine with me // If I only go to Rome or Paris in my dreams // Cause she’s the whole world to me.” On the opposite end, in ‘PLANS’ he reminisces on what could have been with a former lover before they were hit with the harsh challenges of life. 

In ‘DON’T LEAVE ME BEHIND,’ featuring Sinéad Harnett, sunsetto and Harnett use clever metaphors about space to sing about a relationship both people are still looking back on despite it being over. Similarly in ‘BIG MACHINE,’ sunsetto experiences derealization and uses examples to make his point about what he is feeling. He sings in the second verse, “For all I know the world don’t turn // The moon don’t shine and the sun don’t burn // This is all some crazy dream // We’re plugged into a big machine.” While life may seem like a crazy dream to sunsetto, he was able to turn one of his aspirations into a reality by sharing his first full-length body of work with the world.