Jam-packed with tight grooves, contagious hooks, and youthful spirit, it’s clear that Edinburgh quintet ‘Sullen Kink’ have put some strong foundations in place at the early stages of their career following the successful release of their debut EP ‘Chemical Love’.
Here’s what they had to say about it…
“ignoring genres in favour of a collision of influences among the band members based on the feelings of the song. The EP alternates amid wistful nostalgia and joyful exuberance, all written with vulnerability, self-inspection, and honest expression”
Consisting of 5 tracks plus an intro, interlude, and outro, ‘Chemical Love’ is a thoroughly dynamic piece of work by the group. There are multiple wholesome “get the lighter out” moments across the EP in songs like ‘Kill it with Fire”, and ‘Cannabis’. But the group sticks to their word when they say they don’t keep their sound within the constraints of a singular genre. When you compare the prior mentioned songs to tracks on the EP like ‘Overdose’, or the explosive outro in ‘F**k the King’, it’s refreshing to see a band that is not afraid to explore a multitude of different genres and execute it so well.
Another thing to note is the lyrics across the EP. Taking a self-introspective approach throughout ultimately coincides with brutally up-front and honest words. There was a real authentic feel across the EP with the writer being completely transparent, especially in the prior mentioned track ‘Cannabis’.
“Why do you lie to yourself, why do you drink every night,
Why does my house smell like Cannabis, all the time”
Each member of the group displays instrumental moments of brilliance throughout. Whether it be the groovy percussive elements in “Ophelia”, the powerhouse vocal delivery in “Overdose”, the bass and electric guitar licks in “Fuck the King”, or the beautiful keys accompaniment in “Cannabis”. You can tell each song is carefully crafted and that they’ve spent a good amount of time perfecting their parts before solidifying them in a recording session.
Blossoming at the start of 2024 the group have gained a following from their electric live shows and have further built on that through the release of their EP. With a couple of Edinburgh dates in the calendar for the 8th and 13th of March this is a band you’ll want to catch live. It’s for certain that ‘Sullen Kink’ has a promising future ahead of them, to say the least.
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