Sun Araw live at SXSW

LA artist Cameron Stallones aka Sun Araw, who you may recall made us a crazy good dub and dancehall Dummy mix at the end of last year, was rolling with a band for this year’s SXSW. He was joined by synth artist M Geddes Gengras, his co-collaborator for the recent FRKWYS release with Jamaican legends The Congos, and bassist Diva. (Fun fact: Diva’s dad is Bauhaus’ Kevin Haskins.) I caught them late last night at Slow Pump, a house party show organised by a group of local musicians. It was the perfect setting – dark, intimate, relaxed – for Sun Araw’s sideways take on dub-drenched, slow burn rock with Diva’s hyper-sensual bass running through its core. They got into their rhythm and held it, jamming low and slow, with Stallones’s drawly vocals the guiding light. I don’t know whether the acid rainbow visuals being projected onto them (see below) were synced with the sound but the two formed a perfect union, and time paused for a moment or two.