Indie artist Leo Sun's new single is climate control on an otherwise balmy day

Unlike our tropical neighbors a few ticks south, Northeast Florida doesn’t quite enjoy an endless summer. A new track from Jacksonville indie artist Leo Sun, though, certainly sounds as if it sprouted from a tract of citrus- and hibiscus-lined land; somewhere pleasantly tropical. With auxiliary percussion and an ambience of lap steel “When You Wake Up” is an enjoyably languid and airy tune that hits like trade winds on an otherwise balmy day.
Unlike most superficial summer jams, “When You Wake Up” carries a lyrical depth that belies its breezy, relaxed presentation. “I don’t think I could have tried it any harder. It breaks my heart that we couldn’t have gone any farther,” Leo Sun sings on one of the track’s many poetic and lamenting verse lines. Seemingly by design, the tune’s gentle pacing serves to steal the listener’s fortitude, or at least distract from the heartache expressed in the song’s lyrics.
Maybe it takes a special kind of person
I’m sorry I wasn’t the one to make that happen
Ask me how I expect to die–to die
The last thing I’ll ever see is her loving eyes–those eyes
“[‘When You Wake Up’ is] a song about taking it day-by-day,” Leo Sun says. “[It’s] a song about coming and going. A song about loving without recompense. A song about being oh-so gentle and sweet just because that’s how you like to move.”
Leo Sun’s vocal performance, casually tossing their virtuoso voice around as if they were reclining in a chaise lounge, certainly reinforces the song’s modus operandi of keeping things chill and meeting challenges with levity. And as things go from hot to unbearably humid here in Northeast Florida, “When You Wake Up” is arguably capable of climate control.
“When You Wake Up” appears on JME’s Fresh Squeeze Spotify playlist.

Looking for an Alternative to Spotify? Consider Hopping on the band(camp) Wagon

Khruangbin to Bring ‘A LA SALA’ Tour to St. Augustine in April

Perfume Genius, Flipturn, Tamino + Mitski and 6 New Songs to Stream

Song of the Day | “all tied up” by Glixen

Lucy Dacus, Babe Rainbow, Pigeon Pit and 7 New Songs to Stream

Three New and Notable Jazz Releases to Usher in the New Year

New Playlist | Robert Glasper, Jill Scott, Stevie Wonder, Terrace Martin on the latest episode of the Neighborhood

Dweezil Zappa Returns to Northeast Florida to Celebrate Two Early-Seventies Landmark Frank Zappa Albums

My Morning Jacket, Ringo Starr, Blondshell & 7 New Songs to Stream Right Now
