Review: Sun Sone - Patience (Earthly Measures)

Earthly Measures, "an independent label based in London - focusing on music from all corners of the globe" have found a guiding light in Sun Sone and both are rewarded for their 'Patience'.

The Sun Sone (aka Luke Martin) debut album release if full of the producer's love of West Coast Dub Lab experiental beats/hip-hop/Latin/Flying Lotus/Kamasi Washington with OST/Library assignations with Jon Hopkins, James Blake, Rayuichi Sakamoto (RIP), Bill Laswell.

The seven minutes of 'Cascade' particularly fits this bill with previous singles, 'Body' and 'Apogee' celebrating the global and the combination of 'Echo', that even crams in some glitchy jazz tape-loop elements, we can move this on the dancefloor.  

The Latin/World tracks that will gain attending are 'Train' and 'Nothing Happens Twice' and if this was a different label, the likes of Atjazz and Osunlade would be signing up for the remixes especially as he uses an array of percussive instruments from all over the globe that Sone "elegantly massages.. to create a sound which is familiar but also alien" (again, this really fits the last two tracks, 'Just Be' (like a warped James Blake) and 'Inhale' (gospel house meets post-punk-world with SHOLTO; as he's another fan of the OST/harp).

The eight tracks might not have a recognisable theme, possibly due to the length of time the album took Luke to make (a mere 10 years - hence the album title 'Patience') but you can't say any track is 'dated' as the Sun Sone project comes across as self-contained as well as original and exciting.

It was Earthy Measures' 8 Birthday on 12th November, after starting out as a club night in a Dalston (Ed. so trendy) basement in 2016, so it's quite an achievement for 'Patience' being their 22nd release!  Expect support from usual suspects in leftfield electronica, Gilles Peterson, Lefto, Bill Brewster, Steve Barker and the rest. 

Artist: Sun Sone 
Title:  Patience 
Release date: 17th January 2025
Label : Earthly Measures
Catalog Number : EARTHLY022 (TBC)
Format: Digital / Bandcamp