The flowing waves of “If I’m Ever Gonna Change Your Mind” see Zero Sun seeking to re-establish a severed connection, complete with a stereoscopic soundscape evoking the feeling of a psychedelic summer.
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Stream: “If I’m Ever Gonna Change Your Mind” – Zero Sun
Tossing and turning in bed, thinking about what was said and what wasn’t said, is an all-too common experience after heartbreak.
So many people have had a relationship collapse under the weight of various decisions, stupid mistakes, broken promises, or any number of pressures. Those left to pick up the pieces often have to live with that lament for a period of time – however long it is. Some heal with grace and move on, while others take to bargaining for that bliss again before they find themselves healed from the experience.
On “If I’m Ever Gonna Change Your Mind,” listeners will find Zero Sun in the process of making that very bargain. The band – composed of Brody Barr on vocals and guitar, Julian Barry on bass guitar, Quinn Sahlgren on keyboards, and Jake Hess on the drums – communicate the complex nature of regret through an indie pop prism of easygoing guitars, ornamental keyboards, and a steady, easygoing groove.
If I’m ever gonna change your mind
If I’m ever gonna change your mind
And all the stars start to align
If I’m ever gonna change your mind
Self-released on March 13, 2024, “If I’m Ever Gonna Change Your Mind” is a mesmerizing entry in the growing catalog of Zero Sun. The Kalamazoo, Michigan-based band began with the city’s own Kalamazoo Academy of Rock program, where Barr, Sahlgren, and Hess met to perform covers of classic rock songs, and after they moved on from the program, they quickly recruited Barry to play with them. After a strong debut with the single “Alien” in 2023, Zero Sun returned with “If I’m Ever Gonna Change Your Mind,” a follow-up that demonstrates the band’s multi-faceted songwriting abilities.
“If I Ever Change Your Mind” lyrically discusses the deep-seated desire to have someone you love return to you, complete with the pleadings, blame-throwing, and defeated admissions of guilt that come with the territory. Barr opens his tale with a description of the fleeting nature of his significant other. He understands that the love that he was giving her would leave as soon as it came, with his self-awareness chiming in to point out that “Seasons change / Like a little taste of summer / On a colder day adventure / One more time.” Over the course of the song, he shifts like a pendulum between blaming himself and his partner, resembling the emotional tempest that arises after the heart breaks.
Oh no
I screwed up and let the whole world down
Start my life again
Hold me just one more time
You know
The truth about it
Got your friends talkin’
Ruining my life again
Listen, to me for once
Over his languid vocal, the band plays with such nonchalant, casual swagger. Surfy drums buoy a chipper bassline, while vibraphones, guitars, and piano provide the backdrop for an instrumental that sounds as beachy as it does somber. In its own way, it resembles a sunset – it may be beautiful, but it ends the day in the process, as if the sun has set over the relationship.
The song then enters its kaleidoscopic climax, with Barr’s vocal being joined by dramatic synths accented by bubbling keyboards, twinkling guitars, and wave-crashing drums and bass. He pleads to know just what he has to do to get his love back, surrendering to the stage of bargaining as he laxly exclaims, “your essence is worth my time.” With that, the song concludes, awash with synthesizers that drown a doomed request for a reunion.
Fanciful and colorful, “If I’m Ever Gonna Change Your Mind” is a perfect representation of the talents Zero Sun possesses. The promising, young band from Kalamazoo, Michigan aims to release more music in their own mercurial blend of genres, and they will be bringing their snazzy jams to the world.
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© Sophia Wrzesinski
© Sophia Wrzesinski
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