Sunnyside

Album: Sunnyside (2021)
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Songfacts®:

  • Frances Luke Accord is a Chicago-based, indie-folk duo founded by Brian Powers and Nicholas Gunty. Powers started writing this track on the guitar with lyrics about a bluebird in mind. But it evolved into something entirely different - a mellow tune about clinging to hope when the weight of the world gets too heavy.

    "It took a really long time to come to the lyrics that ended up being there," Powers told the Songfacts Podcast in 2023. "All of our tunes wouldn't be what they are without both of our brains pushing at it at a lot of different times and a lot of different angles. A lot of hope occurs in the third verse, like, 'One day we will see eye-to-eye, you and me.' I remember being stuck at that moment and then Nick came up with those lyrics and I was like, 'Oh, yeah, that feels great there for sure.' It's definitely a tune that starts dark on top of this really warm loop and ends hopeful."
  • This is the title track of 2021 Sunnyside EP, which was written in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The duo was lucky enough to squeeze in studio time with violinist Katie Van Dusen just before lockdown forced them into remote sessions.

    "I don't think it would be what it is had we not gotten a chance to work on it in the same room in Michigan, right before Covid shut everything down," Powers told Songfacts. "Because in that room in Michigan was one of our favorite violinists out there, Katie Van Dusen. It's hard to picture that track being as emotionally deep as it is without her playing on it."
  • The EP's cover art is a humorous reimagining of Grant Wood's classic 1930 painting American Gothic, which depicts a somber farmer and his daughter standing in front of their farmhouse.
  • This is also featured on Frances Luke Accord's second album, Safe In Sound (2023).

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