Reverends’ new album, Sunsight, Sunclipse, is its most vivid and unguarded statement yet—a record that most maturely and confidently blends Americana, shoegaze, psych and cosmic country.
Fronted by singer and songwriter Dandy Lee Strickland—with Kyle Jones on drums and Andy Watts and Matt Boehnlein on bass and guitars—the Atlanta trio has carved out its own lane in the psych-rock underground, sharing stages with Dead Meadow, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Luna, Psychic Ills, Lilly Hiatt, Acid Mothers Temple, and more along the way.
“It’s always kind of ridiculous to me when people think psychedelic means dressing like it’s 1967 and talking about acid nonstop,” Dandy says. “Ministry and Meshuggah records feel more psychedelic to me than half the stuff labeled ‘psych’ now. It’s not about the clothes or even the sound—it’s about what expands your mind, what makes you see something new.”
Glide is pumped to premiere “Are You Weeping Still?” from Reverends, a dynamic burner of slowcore meets psych opus, between the worlds of Low and The Black Angels. Featuring Lilly Hiatt on vocals, the track features a mysterious swoon that carries it towards a plateau of musical camaraderie, and just the perfect touch of folk, blues, psychedelia, and noir storytelling.
“Are You Weeping Still?” is us at our best,” says Strickland. Kyle’s drumming on this song is my favorite thing in the world. Matt laid down this incredible heavy riff. Andy’s guitar sounds like it’s from another planet—no one else plays like him.”
“That chorus—Weeping willow on a hill / Tell me, are you weeping still?—was locked in a safe for years. It felt timeless, like an old country song. When we finished recording it, we all sat in the control room to listen back, and it was kind of like that footage of the Stones at Muscle Shoals listening to “Wild Horses”— except we weren’t all nodding off on heroin. Everybody’s personality really came through on this song. I like how vulnerable my vocal feels. That was something I always had a really hard time achieving in the past.”
“And having Lilly Hiatt sing on the song adds so much. Before she came in, I sent her some notes on what I was looking for, which was something like a Nancy Sinatra / Lee Hazlewood duet. She was just like, “Don’t worry about it, I got you.” Obviously, she knew exactly what she was doing because the part she laid down was perfect. Not like I imagined it—better.”
