Fingers of The Sun - Sleepy EP (2012)

A friend recently talked of how she and her boyfriend have started taking afternoon naps in parks ...and I was shocked. All these thoughts filled my head like, "Aren't you afraid you're going to get fucked with by people? Aren't you afraid your shit's going to get stolen or a squirrel is going to bite your toes or something?" Then I remembered that I'm an insanely paranoid person that carries little faith in neither humanity nor squirrels ... which is entirely unfounded, I suppose.

But it does sound nice, though... napping in a park. Who knew? Better yet, how many more of life's small pleasures will I live my days never knowing?

Well, here's one shimmering gem of an EP that I have found to be quite enjoyable in recent days. It comes from a 6 member Denver band called Fingers of The Sun. The aptly titled 'Sleepy' is their second release, and is full of mellow, psychedelic-tinged pop music. Complete with male and female vocals, rich harmonies are abound. Still, this isn't your run of the mill sunshine pop. 'Sleepy' is a conceptual release, and the darkness of night creeps it's way into the sheets of each of these songs.

On "Close Your Eyes", lyrics paint sleep as a drug of sorts: a tool for escapism where we can hide from the pains of the waking world. True... dark but true. Another song that has a foreboding feel is "Arrows In June", which is a masterful piece and pushes the bands sound into psych-pop post-rock territory. Slow and haunting, the lyrics aren't quite as literal as the others, and though I've played the track 10 times in a row, I'm still not entirely clear on what it's about. It seems to be about the reunion of a woman and a man, the former of which was in love while the latter had walked away. She's forgiving and apologetic although he was the one who left her. In a way, it's almost a song about twilight, when the sun and moon briefly share the sky, and where the dramas of their unrequited love are played out.

I'm probably way off, but there's a beautiful sadness to this song that I find incredibly hypnotizing.

5 songs, including a 27 minute long closer that's perfect for helping you dose away the afternoon, cuddling your significant other(or, perhaps, some squirrels) underneath the swaying branches of a weeping willow.

Fingers of The Sun - Sleepy EP