The Suncharms – Monster To Me (Sunday Records)
Having released their first EPs in the early-90s Sheffield shoegazers The Suncharms took a long break before returning with their debut album in 2021. Keeping the vibes going they’ve released single Monster To Me on Sunday Records.
Artist: The Suncharms
Track: Monster To Me
Released: 16 October 2025
Label: Sunday Records
Find it: Bandcamp
It’s the classic tale of our times: arriving in the indie heyday of the late ’80s and early ’90s, a Peel session, labelmates of Catherine Wheel, fade out with shoegaze in 1993. Years pass.
And then…
Shoegaze revival. Internet discovery. Reformation. Retrospective releases.
And then…
New material. Back in a rehearsal room after decades apart the band started to work on new material until, 30 years after they formed, their debut album landed. Now, here we are with Monster To Me (Halloween Version), the first single from their forthcoming third album Darkening Sky.
‘It wasn’t always like this / our teenage love affair / the stars seemed to shine so bright / so bright’
Breathy, echoey, with fuzzy guitars and a ton of layers – there’s plenty of their early era in this mostly mellow track. There’s also swells of brass tethered by tip-tap rhythms, before being set adrift on more of those reverb-laden seas.
It’s a sweet track with a sinister lyrical undertone. There’s plenty of sunshine in these notes, plenty of naivety as the lead vocal sets off, full of optimism and wide eyed first love. But there is also half-heard whispered backing vocals, snaking in and around, introducing a shiver. Even as the brass flourishes, trying to keep it light, there is the sense that heartbreak can only be delayed and not avoided.
If you like your soft-around-the-edges, hazy sort of indie, the The Suncharms are wasting no time now in bringing you just that. Monster To Me holds a lot of promise for the album, and sets the scene with wonderfully layered shoegaze, and indie with real depth to sink into.
Monster To Me by The Suncharms is out digitally on Sunday Records. Album Darkening Sky is set to follow.
Find The Suncharms: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram |
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Sarah Lay
A long-standing music journalist she's also co-founder of independent record label Reckless Yes, an author of novels, and when not messing around with words and music, a digital strategist.
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