The Sugar Hollows’ latest LP, ‘Resonance’, is a 10-part exploration in folk-rock and indomitable spirit alike. The album frequents an easygoing, jam-band-ish energy, which meets the focus of folk and the poetry of self-reflection.

The opening track of ‘Resonance’, ‘Walking In Circles’, sets the scene with a fluid, feel-good sound. As it unfurls, it morphs; the floating minor 4s are like pastel peach clouds at dusk against a violaceous sky. The soft-wailing backing vocals pick up into an earwormish guitar solo. They explore the tolls of life, the rhythms of coming and going. Speaking of rhythm, a delicious modulation occurs throughout the song, as it goes from something more geometrically squared (na-na-na-na) to a soundscape that’s organic and flowing.

We are led up to ‘Light One Up’, which begins with the sounds of an ambient thunderstorm and treats listeners to whirlpool-ish steel slide and descending harmonic structure… just to hit us with the line: ‘Ain’t got no alibi, running from a smokin’ gun.’

Consequently, the next track is ‘Shoot Ya Down’. However, the gun that’s smoking now isn’t the same one as before. Despite the title, track three is rather upbeat; like a fish fighting to swim upstream, it wrestles against the current because it knows it’s where it belongs. Though it details life’s tribulations, the auditory energy is bittersweet at its darkest.

Then we get the jiving folk-rock backbeat of ‘Great Unknown’, which is one part sexy, two parts wanderlust, atop a lush bed of free rockin’… and are met with the more placid ‘Reminiscing’. This song is a wistful ode to every kid who has thrown rocks with a friend in a town they don’t live in anymore, or stayed in a park past closing with a teenage lover.

‘Desert Wind’ is a new hue in ‘Resonance’. A calming personification; a fragment of nature, an old friend we’d follow anywhere. This piece of sonic heaven is short, but has a little reprise at the end. The guitar and soft drum kit follow the night breeze; a gentle lap slide sits atop the beautiful pyramid of sound and fades out to gentle cracklings…

Then ‘Journeyman’ keeps the flavour calm inside its step-wise arpeggiations, slightly minor and dissonant. It’s Radiohead-esque at first, that is, until the percussion hits rev us up into a faster vibe. This song asks what home even is if you’ve never had one; then, ‘Take A Stance’ is liberated inside grit. Throughout the album, there’s a laissez-faire freedom, an elation to persevere despite everything. It’s as if ‘Take A Stance’ is the culmination of all the threads of steadfastness in ‘Resonance’.

We let loose one more time (just for fun) with the penultimate ‘Get By On a Good Time’. It has the twang of country, high-speed drum chops, and the unfettered joy of indie-pop. It rides on East Coast vibes, drinking IPAs, driving Chevrolets until after the sun sets…

But the most remarkable move in ‘Resonance’ is that the slowest, gentlest track is the closer. ‘Love Loving You’ takes place inside a snowglobe of a ballad which begins with longing, missing a sparkle in that pair of eyes.

‘And your heart sings a lullabye, crashing through the dark to make way through the light.’

It is not young love; no.

This is an experienced one that only comes with age.

It has purity and knowing, but a centered wisdom to say, “Hold on, no matter what.”

“The desert wind is also a metaphor for something that comes into your life when you’re in a dark place.”

What’s smokin’ in ‘Light One Up’? Also, what is the meaning behind the metaphorical storm?

This one’s a fun track about karma coming back around. The storm represents the things you’ve done in your past, whether it’s wronging someone or making some bad decisions. You can try to outrun it, but at some point, you know those things are going to catch up with you. We think of that storm like a Southern thunderstorm that comes out of nowhere, like a bat out of hell, and wrecks your shit.

Is there a particular town you had in mind for ‘Reminiscing’?

Our lead singer, Mike, wrote a lot of the lyrics for this one. He wrote it about growing up on the Southside of Richmond, just on the other side of the James River. We’re all lucky enough to have had a hometown that left a lasting impression on us and helped make us who we are today. The song is really about looking back and reminiscing about the places, people, and experiences that shaped you.

What inspired the retro-feeling album cover with the sun?

We love vintage vinyl, so we wanted the album cover to feel like something that could have come straight out of the 1970s. Since we’re also putting the album out on vinyl, that vintage feel felt like a natural fit. The sun also ties into the idea of resonance. The rays casting outward represent how something can resonate and continue to reach beyond itself.

What kind of vocal effects are on ‘Desert Wind’? What sound is at the end; is it a rainstick, or something else?

You’d have to ask our mixing engineer about the vocal effects because honestly, I have no clue what he put on there. But yes, that is a rainstick at the end. It just sounded like a peaceful resolve to the song, and as a matter of fact, it does rain in the desert. The desert wind is also a metaphor for something that comes into your life when you’re in a dark place. It could be a friend, God, or something else that helps pull you out of it. The rainstick just felt like a peaceful way to bring the song to a close, and it felt fitting since, as it turns out, it really does rain in the desert.

What is ‘The Journeyman’ skilled at?

The Journeyman is pretty damn good at running away from his problems. He’s a drifter who’s spent his life moving from place to place, never sticking around too long. But eventually he starts to realize that no matter how far he runs, he’s still carrying the same stuff with him. The song is really about him coming to terms with himself and realizing he can’t keep running forever.

Finally, what does your band name, The Sugar Hollows, mean, and how did you all first meet and come up with it?

The name The Sugar Hollows comes from Sugar Hollow in Charlottesville, Virginia. It’s a place we’ve visited a lot over the years. It’s a beautiful park with a large reservoir, hiking trails, the Moormans River, and lots of woods and wildlife around it. We’re all really into being outdoors, and we draw a lot of inspiration from nature in our music as well, so it felt like a good fit for the band. Coming up with a unique band name is a tough task, and honestly, we just thought The Sugar Hollows was a cool name that sounded right and fit the vibe we were going for.

Headline credit: Colin Zehrer

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