Sunday Driver: The Music of a Steampunk Storybook Utopia
Music, ReviewsSunday Driver is a 7-piece band from the UK consisting of a lead vocalist (Chandy Nath), tabla drummer (Amit Joggia), guitarist/sitarist (James Clayton), bassist (Richard Bullen), harpist/clarinetist/spoonist (Kat Arney), a second guitarist (Simon Richardson), and drummer/percussionist (Scott Jowett).
Chandy Nath gathers her songwriting talents to channel the angst from where she was stationed while working on the Antarctic Survey. Taking stories from her past and battle wounds of dictatorships in Chile and Uganda, as well as old Indian Stories, the songs manifest themselves in ever so lively a manner.
Fueling a steampunk storybook utopia, Sunday Driver control your imagination and take you along for a circus adventure. The telluric instruments suggest a majestic truth about the world around us. For instance “Mechanical Angel” is about Mahatma Gandhi’s time in prison, yet the song is written as a lullaby. Chandy utters under the verse the chant “Ram ka nam, satya hai” which, from the history books, is a reference to Lord Ram, whose name Mahatma Gandhi uttered as he was assassinated. The band has diverse influences, evenidence by the song “Myself” which was inspired by the band TOOL. Nothing can stop this band.
Once the enchantment has taken hold of you, listening to the stories in the lyrics can change your perception. “The Mutiny” is Sunday Driver’s second album, and it creates a derivative, transparent world laid on top of the one we live in. Close your eyes.