Ears Wide Open: Sun Kin

Chris Arey on January 30th, 2021

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Sun Kin is the moniker of art-pop artist Kabir Kumar, who was born in Bombay, grew up living in five different countries and is now based in L.A., via Oakland. Having piled up more miles in more cultures than most of us, Kumar makes music that feels familiar and foreign all at once, encompassing elements of electronic, house, disco and R&B.

Sun Kin has just released the new single “Trying to Trust,” and it will be featured on the forthcoming LP, “After the House,” due out Feb. 12.

“Trying to Trust” showcases Kumar’s musicianship and features a wide array of instruments and styles. The song is fast, driving, with colorful notes of guitar and synth. What carries the track throughout though, is the groovy bass line. It’s the kind of song you’d hear in a nightclub, while dancing the night away.

In late November, Kumar released “Blue Light (Keeps Me Up at Night),” which is the lead track off “After the House.” It’s a lively one, with an electro-rhythm, bright guitars and a vocal hook that gets stuck in your head.

“‘Blue Light (Keeps Me Up at Night)’ was inspired by Sade, Blood Orange, Peggy Guo and Nile Rodgers (Chic), as well as by endless YouTube playlists of acid and deep house, much of which sounds like it could have been made at any point in the past 40 years,” Kumar says. “The tone is yearning but playful, light but also deep, with a propulsive, hopeful energy contrasting the melancholy of the melodies.”

Adds Kumar: “Everything fit in. I felt pretty singing the chorus. I felt more pretty than I’ve ever felt singing a chorus.”

||| Stream: “Trying to Trust”