New York trio City of the Sun are built around breaking conventions, and yet they still manage to test their own boundaries on the latest single “Firefly” from their upcoming UNTITLED EP.
“This song is an about an experience we had at a festival a few years back, when we ‘accidentally’ took mushrooms,” the band tells Billboard. “We later saw Mumford & Sons play live and it ended up being one of the best shows ever.”
The mind-bending excursion — which can be surmised as taking place at the namesake Delaware festival in 2016 when the two groups shared the Sunday bill — appears to have made quite the impression on the group, as the song incorporates an acoustic guitar and a rich texture of sounds that collectively build into a rapturous climax that would make Marcus Mumford proud.
Clocking in at almost six minutes, “Firefly” gives perhaps the best glimpse at the scale of the instrumental group’s vision. Their expanding soundscapes include more space for complex, ornate compositions that not only astound but affect.
The dazzling new single follows early offerings like “Sugar” and the brisk Peter Bjorn & John cover “Young Folks” from the band’s UNTITLED EP, due out Dec. 8. They’re hosting a release party tonight (Dec. 7) at JIA in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, and will kick off the new year with a headlining show at Brooklyn Steel on Feb. 23. Tickets are available here.
Check out the single “Firefly” below.