With their debut album less than a month away, Brisbane alt-rock outfit Sunbleached are giving BLUNT an exclusive first look at a special studio performance of ‘Maybe I’ll Come Around’.
Sunbleached are closing in on the release of their debut album Stop Destroying The Things You Love, but before the whole thing lands, the Brisbane outfit are stripping back the distance between themselves and one of its key tracks.
We are exclusively premiering Sunbleached’s studio performance of ‘Maybe I’ll Come Around’, offering a different look at the dreamy, emotionally tangled single ahead of the album’s arrival on Friday, September 18th via Community Music.
The performance taps into the push and pull sitting underneath the song. There’s haze around the edges, but plenty of weight underneath it, neatly capturing the space Sunbleached have increasingly occupied between alt-rock, emo and the heavier shades of ’90s guitar music.
For vocalist Josh Baker, choosing ‘Maybe I’ll Come Around’ for the session made immediate sense.
“We knew we wanted the song to be a single and we’ve always wanted to do an Audiotree style performance, and it seemed like the natural choice for it!”
Watch Sunbleached perform ‘Maybe I’ll Come Around’
The performance arrives as Stop Destroying The Things You Love creeps closer. Produced with Fletcher Matthews, whose credits include Trophy Eyes, Dear Seattle and Justice For The Damned, the record pushes Sunbleached into darker and heavier territory without abandoning the emotional core of their earlier material.
“We’ve matured but we are definitely still the same emos from back then hahah, obviously since the first stuff we put out the song writing has become darker and heavier, which was intentional, and the production and visual components have stepped up, but that just seems like natural progression and maturity for the most part,” Baker explains.
That shift came with a pretty broad pool of influences.
“Silverchair, Bush, Counterparts, Deftones, Underoath and Nirvana would be my biggest influences on this record, funnily enough I’d put Eminem in there too, his first 3 records are full of really cool guitar hooks and melodies,” Bradley says.
Baker adds: “Personal experiences and artists like King Krule, Citizen, Deftones and even James Blake are a massive influence to me lyrically and vocally.”
It explains some of the record’s shape. Sunbleached aren’t simply reaching for heavier guitars here. There’s a broader palette underneath them, with melody, atmosphere and vulnerability being treated with as much importance as sheer volume.
Stop Destroying The Things You Love
Even the album’s title predates much of what listeners are about to hear.
“The title started as a phrase Bradley coined back in 2018, after we finished demoing the album, we were thinking of titles and it just fit the themes we were touching on in the lyrics,” Baker says.
For Bradley, those themes revolve around a particularly human talent for wrecking something before somebody else gets the opportunity.
“This album is about the ups, downs and overarching themes of the opportunities and relationships we sabotage in the name of tearing things down first before they have a chance to fall.”
Matthews proved an important part of translating those ideas into the finished record after the band crossed paths with him at BIGSOUND in 2024.
“We knew of Fletcher from his work with Trophy Eyes, Dear Seattle and Justice For The Damned, which definitely contributed to our decision to work with him when we met him at BIGSOUND in 2024,” Baker says.
“Fletcher was excellent to work with and we feel privileged to have been able to make this record with him. He brought an extreme level of technical skill in the studio and the ability to understand what we wanted to create and how to apply his skillset to help us elevate what we had. He’s also a great hang, and him being willing to work with us in the comfort of our own homes was a big bonus too!” Bradley adds.
Sunbleached Hit The Road With Seahaven
There won’t be much time to sit around admiring the finished product once it arrives. Sunbleached are joining California emo favourites Seahaven for their East Coast Australian run in September, putting the new material in front of crowds as the album enters the world.
“Very stoked! We’re all big fans of Seahaven so that’s a massive win for us and the fact it ties in so nicely with the album release is amazing, serendipitous timing to say the least,” Baker says.
And beyond September, there’s apparently more movement behind the curtain.
“We’ll be hitting the road and touring the record of course. We have a few things lined up over the next 6 months – but nothing we can disclose just yet!”
For now, though, Stop Destroying The Things You Love is almost here, and ‘Maybe I’ll Come Around’ gives us another glimpse at just how far Sunbleached have pushed themselves getting there.
01. Delicate Places We Hide
02. Flesh Heaven
03. Slow Burn
04. Everyone Leaves
05. Maybe I’ll Come Around
06. Star Crossed Lover
07. Blue Like You
08. Pain Chamber
09. Stop Destroying The Things You Love
10. Dissolve and Bloom
11. Sweet Pea
Watch BLUNT’s exclusive premiere of Sunbleached performing ‘Maybe I’ll Come Around’ above.
Stop Destroying The Things You Love is out Friday, September 18th via Community Music.
