SoftSun is the result of a divine collaboration between very unique and visionary musicians. Pia Isaksen (Pia Isa) and Gary Arce (Yawning Man, Fatso Jetson) along with Dan Joeright (Earth Moon Earth) come from opposite sides of the world. Vocalist and bass player Pia Isaksen grew up in Norway, while Gary Arce and drummer Dan Joeright are based in the Southern California Mojave desert. The environments they occupy are evident in the beautifully heavy yet ethereal sound of this band. Arce’s dreamscaping cinematic guitar work gives a stark contrast of balance to the heavy melodic bass driven compositions. Pia’s voice, ethereal in nature, levitates the sound and brings a dreamlike shoegaze quality to the songs. Cocteau Twins, True Widow, Yawning Man and Diiv would be appropriate reference points for this unique approach to songwriting.
SoftSun was formed in 2023 by Gary Arce, Pia Isaksen and Dan Joeright after Arce and Isaksen had been wanting to make music together for several years. It all started in 2020 when Arce played guitar on the first record by Isaksen’s solo project Pia Isa. Discovering how perfect their musical expressions fit together they knew they really wanted to create more music together. With Arce’s unique and beautiful guitar melodies and sounds, Isaksen’s heavy bass and haunting vocals combined with Joeright’s perfectly patient drumming, SoftSun delivers heavy mellow and dreamy music with its own sound. After a few years of collaborating on two of Pia’s records from opposite sides of the planet (Moss in Norway and Yucca Valley in California) and becoming good friends, Gary and Pia finally met in person in late 2023. They instantly became inseparable and started planning their musical project. The first SoftSun songs were written by Pia in Moss and sent to with Gary who wrote guitar melodies for them in Yucca Valley before Pia then got on the plane to California in January 2024. During three weeks they wrote more songs and got together with drummer and studio owner Dan Joeright who turned out to be a perfect fit for the band. After only three practices and two and a half days in Gatos Trail Recording Studio, the trio recorded their first record live. The vocals were done by Pia back in Norway before. Dan then mixed the record. On Pia’s next trip to California six weeks later, the trio booked another studio session and recorded a few more songs. The result is their debut record, Daylight in the Dark, the first single of which you can listen to below this article.
Daylight in the Dark will be released on November 8th via Ripple Music. Pre-orders will be made available soon.
