Today, Joe Sumner releases his long awaited debut album, Sunshine In The Night on his Rooley Records/BFD/The Orchard In an article posted this past week in Variety, Linda Laban offered, “Sunshine in the Night is a humdinger loaded with chamber pop ditties and swirling, synth-y power-ballads.”
Humdinger, indeed! The long player, originally delivered just before the pandemic, boasts 12 brilliant folk-pop gems, including “Hope,” rush ordered by the Biden campaign and co-opted for the soon-to-be-POTUS’ good fight. Sumner enlisted a diverse list of friends (and family) to participate in a singalong video of the song that included folks like Ben Folds, Juliana Hatfield, Gaby Moreno, and Sting, not to mention Joe and Mika from MSNBC Morning Joe, debuted it on-air the Friday before the now-controversial Election. Subsequently, “Hope” was also released as a 7” single for Record Store Day Black Friday later that November.
Two more album tracks, “You, You, You” and “Looking For Me, Looking For You,” were rolled out in 2022 with the help of American Songwriter, Rolling Stone and others amid an almost ceaseless touring agenda supporting Sting and playing solo dates the world over. A November 2022 date in France was captured for a live EP, Feelin’ The Love, Tastin’ The Fear.
The rest of Sunshine In The Night, produced by Tom Syrowski, hands us with a full platter of truly memorable sounds. “Live Life” is an ebullient salvo to the resilience of the human spirit and the impermanence of life itself. “Don’t Change The Love,” jumps out big like Lennon in the ‘70s. “Don’t Go Away” is, at once, heart wrenching and triumphant in its honesty, with a seductive psychedelic break to boot, and the lush, blue-eyed soul of “See You Again” takes us through an ethereal portal that begs multiple listens.
Kicking off his musical career in London in the nineties, Sumner spent far more than the mandatory 10,000 hours perfecting his craft. There, he formed a band called Santa’s Boyfriend, which subsequently became the beloved trio, Fiction Plane. The band enjoyed several years developing a well-cultivated, worldwide fan base and playing an 18-month tour supporting another trio, The Police before parting ways.
Sunshine In The Night, Sumner’s long-awaited full length, is the best of two worlds - a sonically epic masterwork that somehow manages to also feel intimate.
See below for remaining stateside tour dates, as well as a now-announced solo shows at London’s Slaughtered Lamb (Nov. 21), at Podium Laurentz in Heemskerk, NL (Nov. 29), and New Morning in Paris on Dec. 2, along with additional dates supporting Sting in the EU.
NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES:
All remaining dates in support of Sting, except where noted.
Sat 07 Oct Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Bowl
Mon 09 Oct Phoenix, AZ Arizona Financial Theater
Thu 12 Oct Rogers, AR Walmart Amphitheater
Fri 13 Oct. New York, NY Piano’s - MondoNYC Closing Night. SOLO
Sat 14 Oct Dallas, TX Toyota Music Factory
Sun 15 Oct Houston, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pav.
UK/EU TOUR DATES:
All dates in support of Sting, except where noted.
Tue Nov 21 London UK The Slaughtered Lamb SOLO
Thu Nov 23 Oberhausen, GE Rudolf Weber Arena
Sat Nov 25 Brussels, BE Forest National
Mon Nov 27 Hamburg, GE Barclays Arena
Tue Nov 28 Leipzig, GE Quarterback Immobilien Arena
Wed Nov 29 Heemskerk NL Podium Laurentz SOLO
Thu Nov 30 Amsterdam, NE AFAS Live
Fri Dec 01 Amsterdam, NE AFAS Live
Sat Dec 02 Paris FR New Morning SOLO
Sun Dec 03 Paris, FR Accor Arena
Mon Dec 04 Cologne, GE Lanxess Arena
Wed Dec 06 Nuremberg, GE Arena
Thu Dec 07 Hannover, GE ZAG Arena
Sat Dec 09 Luxembourg, LUX Rockhal
Mon Dec 11 Milan, IT Forum
Wed Dec 13 Lyon, FR LDLC Arena
Fri Dec 15 Madrid, SP IFEMA
Sat Dec 16 Pamplona, SP Navarra Arena
For more information, please visit: https://www.joesumnersings.com and follow @thejoesumner on all social media platforms.
