Mother Sun embody castaways on “Fish And Chips”

Canadian band Mother Sun ponder the validity of the moon landing on their newest single, out now on Earth Libraries.

“Fish And Chips” – the newest single from Canada’s resident psych-pop masters Mother Sun – radiates carefree fun. The track starts with a free-wheeling baseline, creating an atmosphere of wonder and whimsy. Vocalists Jared Doherty and Emilio Pagnotta launch into the song’s narrative: the track documents the inner monologue of a sailor marooned in a distant land. As he devours his makeshift fish and chips, the sailor muses about conspiracy theories and the passage of time. The pair sing, “Tomorrow is overlapping / At least today is new / I’ll watch one more fake moon landing / I see the camera crew / Floating where they should be standing / Could be this point of view / Tomorrow is laughing at me at least today is new.” The track proves to be silly both in concept and execution. It’s almost like if London-based band Superorganism wrote the soundtrack to Dr. Seuss‘ adaptation of Homer‘s Odyssey.

The joy of Mother Sun‘s songs – not just “Fish and Chips,” but priorly released tracks like “Sucralose” and “SIPS” – is due to how effortlessly the band collaborates. Doherty and Pagnotta‘s layered, distorted falsettos zig and zag with Alex Ward‘s playful bass, Jared Wilman‘s percussive additions, and smooth trumpet embellishments. The result sounds more like a symphony than a piece recorded (separately, due to COVID) by four guys from Kamloops, British Columbia. “Fish and Chips” succeeds in showing off the limitless quality of Mother Sun‘s sound. This band can take you from a shipwreck, to the moon, and back again. Who knows where they’ll take listeners on their forthcoming record?