Sunlight (Spacey Jane album)

In November 2018, Spacey Jane released their second EP, In the Slight. They performed at Falls Festival 2018/2019 after winning the Triple J Unearthed Falls competition. In July 2019, the group announced bassist Amelia Murray would be amicably leaving the band to pursue a career in medicine.[1] She was soon replaced by Peppa Lane from Margaret River, who had studied at Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and performed on double bass in her group, the Friendly Folk.[2]

On 20 December 2019, Spacey Jane signed with English record label AWAL, following a "breakout year" for the band, having become the fifth most played artist on Triple J Unearthed in 2019.[3]

Lead single "Good Grief" was released on 24 April 2019, and was supported by the Good Grief Australian Tour.[4][5] The next two singles "Good for You" and "Head Cold" followed in August and November, with the latter being supported by the nationwide Head Cold tour.[6][7] "Good for You" polled at number 80 in the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2019, marking the band's first appearance in the countdown.

On 26 February 2020, the band officially announced the album's release via social media, alongside fourth single "Skin", a music video, and a nationwide tour.[8] Of the announcement, lead vocalist Caleb Harper said the band was "so incredibly excited to finally be putting out our first ever album - it's been a long time in the making and we can barely keep still over it".[9] Penultimate single "Straightfaced" was released in May,[10] followed by "Booster Seat" on 7 June 2020, premiering on Richard Kingsmill's program on Triple J.[11][12]

Upon the album's release, the band held an online Zoom party with customers of the album on 19 June 2020.[13] Sunlight peaked at number two on the ARIA Albums Chart and topped Triple J's annual Album Poll.[14] At the 2021 AIR Awards, Sunlight was nominated for Independent Album of the Year and Best Independent Rock Album.[15] In March 2021, the band embarked on the nationwide Sunlight Tour, with support from Carla Geneve.[16]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Indie Is Not a Genre
The Newcastle Herald
NME

Sunlight received "widespread acclaim".[17] Ali Shutler of NME concluded that "as huge as Spacey Jane sound on Sunlight, it's never at the expense of their heartfelt honesty".[18] Ben Malkin of music publication Indie Is Not a Genre called it a "fitting lockdown album, viscerally urgent yet constantly gazing in the mirror, searching for imperfections". He concluded the release is a "well-toned alt rock force, fit for radio but layered with emotional complexity".[19]

Declan Byrne of Triple J summarised the album as navigating "past relationships, failures and lessons learned, but all through a bright, summery filter".[14] The writer praised the balance of "breezy-sounding songs with emotional weight and heft", calling it "easily one of the smoothest indie rock rides you’ll enjoy from an Aussie guitar band this year".[20]

All tracks written by Caleb Harper, Kieran Lama, Peppa Lane and Ashton Le Cornu, unless otherwise noted.

Standard edition

Deluxe edition[21]

Musicians

• Caleb Harper – writing (tracks 1–17), lead vocals, guitar
• Ashton Hardman-Le Cornu – writing (tracks 1–17), lead guitar
• Kieran Lama – writing (tracks 1–17), drums
• Peppa Lane – writing (tracks 3, 5, 7–15), bass guitar, backing vocals
• Amelia Murray – writing (tracks 1–2, 4, 6, 9, 16–17)
• Will Toledo (Car Seat Headrest) – writing (track 18)

Technical

• Dave Parkin – producer
• William Bowden – mastering

Promotional

• Daniel Hildebrand – photography
• Garreth Pearse – deluxe edition design
• Matt Sav – cover photography

• Sunlight at Discogs (list of releases)