Album Review: Amy Shark – Sunday Sadness
3 min read
Amy Shark could be called an Australian cultural icon. With eight ARIA awards under her belt and a spot-judging Australian idol, she’s certainly proven herself to be a superstar. In her fourth studio album Sunday Sadness, Shark embraces a cheerful pop style for a fun summer album.
The album opens with the upbeat pop number Sliding Down the Wall, the cheerful drumline and guitar backing suiting the lyrics about overwhelming emotions and love. As a first track, it perfectly sets the tone for the breezy pop of Sunday sadness. It’s followed by It’s Nice to Feel This Way Again where Shark again embraces a cheerful tone with upbeat clapping on the backing track, which makes you want to join in and clap along.
The majority of the songs on Sunday Sadness have this more cheerful tone, setting it apart from the more angsty offerings from earlier in Sharks’ career. Can I Shower at Yours? is a perfect upbeat love song, that encapsulates the catchy choruses and confidently subtle vocal style of the album. Two Friends is a fun track about falling in love with your best friend that again continues the optimistic tone. The lyrics can verge on silly at times the repeated ‘cool cool ca choo” seeming slightly out of place, but the tone is infectiously positive.
Shark does offer a few more contemplative songs closer to the end of the album, I’m Sorry is a wistful contemplation of what could have been, as she thinks about a relationship that had ended. The stripped-back guitar backing suits her melancholy vocals as she sings “Keep writing all these songs” about something that’s now lost. The final track Our Time Together combines the more melancholy tone of I’m Sorry with the happier tracks earlier in the album. The song is both nostalgic for the past but appreciative of the “time [they] had together”. The ghostly outro leaves you wistful but optimistic.
Amongst the breezy pop and wistful ballad, two songs stand out. Gone is a call back to her older style songs, with a more strained voice and a harsher drumline. The angrier tone is a more intense response to a break-up than I’m Sorry but it works brilliantly. The sound effects of smashing objects and occasional microphone screeches add to the effect making it stand out. Beautiful Eyes is perhaps the opposite of Gone, much slower with a piano backing. The lyrics are almost autobiographical discussing Sharks’ life with lyrics like “my mother was a baby with a baby like me”. The tune is positive encouraging the listener to “keep moving” and not let difficult situations stop you. With its memorable tune and emotive lyrics, it stands out as one of the most powerful tracks.
With eleven catchy songs none stretching over three and a half, minutes Sunday Sadness is short but undeniably fun. A fantastic pop album, with songs that work well together, this is Sharks’ most complete and perfect album yet. With her cultural capital in Australia secured, whether this album will see the same success worldwide is yet to be seen, but it truly deserves it.
