I Am By Day is a vibe. Sister John’s third LP grooves with dusky desert-conjuring rhythms – it’s the perfect accompaniment to the smell of brunch on a Sunday hang.
It’s a gently experimental album, peppered with fuzzy synths and wobbling mellotrons, along with honey-toned guitars and, as to be expected, Amanda’s nectared revelatory lyrics. ‘I’ll Be Your Life’ and closing track, the gently soaring ‘Glasgow Is A Rainbow’, are standouts, but the real limelight hits on ‘Strange Ideas’, a song whose violin-centred build possesses the feel of a classic The Delgados song. ‘What I Want’ is brilliantly simple, sounding like a 90s electro track stripped of its club-context synths.
The group has nudged their focus away from the previous folk and Americana sounds of Returned from Sea and Sister John towards a more alt-indie, lush but lo-fi avenue. And the payoff? Well, it’s fruitful. The band are now casting a wider net than ever before and in the process bringing to life comforting, hazy gems of escapism.
