Sun Kil Moon’s will play their first show in New Zealand in nearly a decade at The Tuning Fork on 28 May, 2017.

Almost fifteen years after Mark Kozelek’s Red House Painters act disbanded, the Sun Kil Moon project continues to command a reputation for prolific, profound recorded output and exemplary live capabilities. The Guardian hailed Sun Kil Moon’s live show as “utterly magnificent”, and Brooklyn Vegan declared it “one of the most surprising and fulfilling show-going experiences.”

Announced and released independently on Kozelek’s Caldo Verde imprint in February, Sun Kil Moon’s latest double LP ‘Common As Light And Love Are Red Valleys Of Blood’ is a sixteen track, 130-minute album recorded alongside Steve Shelly of Sonic Youth, that takes listeners on a journey across the United States of 2016. Pitchfork summed the songs up aptly: “by-and-large the most confrontational songs Kozelek has ever put out, but strangely they’re also some of the more exciting ones he’s written,” and it traverses the harrowing, often banal realities of Kozelek’s travels and internal narrative via candid, intimate lyrical musings. And the album is more diverse than ever before. In conversation with Conor Oberst, he mentions a session musician who compared the album to Kendrick Lamar’s ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’, and the lyricism touches on such political issues as gun violence. 

Sun Kil Moon is utterly unique amongst the folk and rock genres. Sparse yet intense, there is a mesmerising quality to these introspective musical musings. The atmospheric restraint of arrangements is adored by true music aficionados the world over. The sweeping and poetic music inspires a unique brand of allegiance and respect. Pulsing and luminous, this is acoustic balladry that transcends narrative, deftly conjuring vivid and dynamic imagery.

Sun Kil Moon

Sunday May 28th: The Tuning Fork, Auckland

Tickets via Ticketmaster