Sun Sone
By: Dream Chimney
The following interview was conducted on January 15, 2025
Sun Sone is Luke Martin, born and raised in London, now living in Yorkshire hills. He is about to release his debut album ‘Patience’ on London label Earthly Measures. Here we ask Sun Sone to talk us through some albums that have impacted his musical world.
Cocteau Twins - Treasure

Cocteau Twins were frequently played by my mum when I was growing up. This album has a really ethereal otherworldly sound. I love when a band isn't afraid to get strange, and the glossolalia-inspired vocals are really interesting. Cocteau Twins have this sort of washy blurry reverb sound to their music, and I like how the vocals blend into that. It's like taking a sound bath. I think this is where I developed an appreciation for vocals as textures rather than defined messages. Elizabeth Fraser said in an interview that the words don't have any meaning at all until they're sung, so I guess sometimes it's not about what's said but how it's said.
Massive Attack - Mezzanine

Another one from my childhood, I think I heard this the most at my grans place. Tough call between this and 'Protection' but I think Mezzanine is more refined and evolved. The production is crispy but dark and minimal, and it simultaneously sounds timeless and of the time. Their use of samples is really interesting, and they get stuff from really obscure places.
Brian Eno / David Byrne - My Life in The Bush Of Ghosts

Back in my school days a mate introduced me to this album, and it instantly became one of my favourite albums ever. One of the really early examples of sampling in music - using radio broadcasts and even sermons ('Help Me Somebody') as vocals.
It has a bit of that Krautrock looping rhythmic structure and a lot of afrobeat influence as well, which I think Eno and Byrne were both into at that time. Like Massive Attack they grab samples from around the world, recontextualizing them to transform the meaning, and it's really interesting to mix distinctive sounds from different cultures together to see what happens. Like on 'Regiment' you have these beautiful soaring vocals from Lebanese singer Dounia Younes mixed with this sort of modern (for the time) funky bassline. I love that collage of sounds.
It's a bit shit that they didn't credit her on the album apart from "the Lebanese mountain singer" and it raises some questions about cultural appropriation. I guess back in them days it might have been more difficult to locate people pre internet, but then I heard after she discovered the album many years later they settled it. Hopefully, that meant she got some dosh and credit at least.
Talking Heads - Remain in Light

Probably one of my tippy top favourite albums ever. David Byrne and Brian Eno went off travelling for inspiration and visited Fela's club in Lagos. Fela's influence is pretty clear on this record, but I really like the weird Talking Heads twist. 'Born Under Punches' kicks off the album with this bizarre afrobeat jam, and one of the most interesting guitar solos I've ever heard from Adrian Belew (King Crimson). There's just so many juicy good ideas on this album. It starts off with really high energy and then as it nears the end of the album it gets a bit darker and slower, and by the time it gets to 'The Overload' it feels like it's dying. There's not a single bad track on this album.
Fela Kuti - Gentleman

This is truly a long listen record. The intro of 'Gentleman' demands it with this long winding atmospheric sax solo from Fela, and then that building snare hit before the drop. I don't care what anyone says - that intro when the bass comes in and then the percussion crashes is the best drop in musical history. The whole album is pure joy, despite it being so heavily political. It's sort of like a manifesto for cultural authenticity and resistance.
Cardiacs - Sing to God

Just a heads up - this is one of them challenging albums to listen to, so don't slap it on at a party unless you want people to leave. Cardiacs are one of my favourite bands ever simply because of how far they push the boat out in terms of experimentation. It's sort of like 'prog-punk'. Mad uncompromising arrangements with lots of energy. It's a double album, so listening to it in one go with solid headphones would be an absolute journey into another plane of existence, and you will either come out traumatized or ready to join the cult of the Cardiacs fanbase. One of the best and most criminally underrated bands to come out of the UK. RIP Tim Smith.
Flying Lotus - Los Angeles

I sort of hold Flying Lotus up with Dilla in terms of musicians who shaped an entire landscape with their music. It's experimental, pretty raw in terms of production quality (think he did it all himself), and it's just instrumental hip-hop and beats. There's chaos, vibes, jams, and lots of weird, dreamy stuff. A true pioneer. Lots of jazzy bits mixed in, and a strong example of 'organic meets digital' which is what I try to achieve in my own music. It was a really tough choice between this and something by Knxwledge, who is like a spiritual successor of Flylo.
Check out the latest release from Sun Sone.