Peter Morén's SunYears Shares 'Slipping Away'

SunYears, a new project from Swedish singer/songwriter Peter Morén of Peter Bjorn and John, today shares the second single, "Slipping Away," from the debut album Come Fetch My Soul! out June 16 via Yep Roc Records.

Of the track Morén offers, "This is more of an emotional state than any kind of coherent narrative. An image keeps coming back of walking, very drunk, all over Manhattan, from the Lower East Side to the Upper West (circa 2007?) trying to call someone. A walk I did several times during that era. I think I told Andreas (Nordell, bass) and Nino (Keller, drums) that we should sound like Nick Drake meets Television. Of course, it didn't turn out that way in the end, but I think you get what I mean. Proud of this one."

The 10-track album's melodic wisdom immediately feels familiar yet is unexplored territory for Morén, who delivers a collection of tunes that instantly feel timeless. Ranging from wistful folk and Beatles-esque pop to psychedelic guitar jangle and shimmering balladry, the album is a result of nostalgic listening habits and thematically from dreams, most notably the rockabilly-esque track "Last Night I Dreamt I Met Phil & Don," which takes inspiration from a dream meeting pop legends the Everly Brothers.

For the album, Morén enlisted fellow indie artists Ron Sexsmith, Jess Williamson, Eric Johnson (Fruit Bats, Bonny Light Horseman), and Kathryn Williams, which resulted in multiple duets throughout the album.

The closing track "Wake Up," written during a songwriting retreat, features Kathryn Williams and Ren Harvieu. "During that trip, we sang a lot together in different groups," explains Morén, "and it was that spirituality of singing with other people that I want to bring into this record."

An open-ended name that references both the classic sound of 1950's Sun Records and the passage of time itself, SunYears has been years in the making with a figurative birth that came during the pandemic. With touring scrapped, Morén rediscovered his love of playing guitar in solitude and the art of collaboration, which he did with a tight-knit group of friends and peers in his hometown of Stockholm.

"Those experiences brewed something in me," he recalls. "Looking at how other people make music and dipping in and out of other environments was really inspiring."

Produced by Peter Morén, Ruben Engzell, and Daniel Bengtson, mastered by Magnus Lindberg, and mixed by Niklas Berglöf, all songs on the album were written by Peter Morén except "Wake Up," which was written by Peter Morén, Kathryn Williams, and Ren Harvieu.

Listen to the new single here: