The songs comprising Sunshower—produced by the band and noted engineer Chris Ribando (The Black Crowes, Priestbird, Mary J. Blige)—blend contemporary styles with a myriad of classic influences, from Dylan and The Beatles to Pink Floyd and Fleetwood Mac to The Police and Talking Heads. But you wouldn’t immediately hear them. The band has a knack for combining all of those influences into something utterly vital and wholly their own, as they’ve done on first single “Flaming Arrow,” a shimmering, ringing acoustic folk tune shot through with a bumping bassline and New Orleans inspired drum groove.
Sunshower dazzles on tracks like the dancefloor-friendly “Simple Stones,” filled with handclaps and soulful economic riffing that boasts a bass line for the ages while blending ‘80s Stones and MGMT. The epic opener “Volcano” melds The Beach Boys with The Flaming Lips, while delivering one of the disc’s best choruses. If Ishibashi conjures The Shins on “Find Me a Place,” he drops vintage, finger-picking folk on disc-closer “People in the Mountain.” As guitarist Zac Colwell puts it: “We can sound like Simon & Garfunkel, The Kooks, or even from a webisode of Yacht Rock.”
If they had their way, listeners would ingest each track on Sunshower as they would a new chapter in a never-boring book. Says singer/multi-instrumentalist K Ishibashi, “We approach every song like, ‘Will people be able to listen to this over and over again?’ ”
“Each song is like a little world,” adds Colwell. “We’re the same four guys playing the music on each track, but we just like to get way down in there and explore that little world.”
What K Ishibashi (lead vocals), Zac Colwell (lead guitar), Dave Heilman (drums) and Pat Dougherty (bass) have created as a result is a hook-heavy album tailor-made for our ADD times. And that mix-it-up mentality suits the band, as its songs are written by either Colwell or Ishibashi, each of whom have opposing approaches to lyric and melody.
“K leaves things a little more open for the listener,” says Colwell, who also plays keyboards and flute and adds backing vocals. “I consciously try to have a little narrative, and tell a story.” Counters Ishibashi, who plays guitar and violin in addition to singing lead on Sunshower: “His songs are pretty dark. I write bright, fun stuff, a lot of it stemming from one really big emotional experience. I’m more analytical, more left brain, he’s more right.”
“If there’s a theme to the album, it would definitely be bittersweetness,” Colwell continues.
“There’s definitely some humor, playfulness, but there’s also this twenty-something, we-have-to-temper-our-excitement sort of thing, especially being New Yorkers. Our elation is always checked, and some of the lyrics reflect that.” Bittersweet can be contradictory in terms, but in this case, these four unique personalities colorfully complement one another.
Although officially formed in 2003, the seeds for Jupiter One were planted in 2000 when Austin native Colwell and Ishibashi (raised in Virginia) met while working as touring musicians with a traveling circus, the Barnum Kaleidoscope. Bonding over their love for all music from soul to classical Indian, the duo began performing instrumental music in New York in the early 2000s, gradually working their way toward pop music incorporating vocals, and gigs at Pianos, Arlene’s Grocery and other reputable venues around Manhattan. “We noticed that once we started singing, girls started coming to shows,” laughs Colwell.
A former member of the popular STOMP performance collective, New Jersey-born drummer Heilman, caught an early incarnation of Jupiter One at a now-defunct bar in New York’s Lower East Side. “There was a unique, analog keyboard sound, something you don’t really hear anymore, especially then, in 2004,” he says, “and it just created this incredible sense of nostalgia. It made me feel like the band’s music was already history. It totally felt classic, and it made me sit up on the edge of my seat.” The current incarnation of the band coalesced with the addition of Delaware-raised bassist Pat Dougherty.
Taking its name from the spaceship in the ‘60s television show Lost in Space, Jupiter One made its recorded debut in 2005 with a self-titled EP, three songs from which made the transition—albeit in re-recorded form—to the group’s official self-titled debut album. The songs on Jupiter One scored the band a slew of high-level song-placements in TV and film projects (including the upcoming indie film Broken Windows, MLB Opening Day ‘09, NASCAR Talladega Race ’09 NBC’s Heroes Tribute, and the Sci-Fi channel’s Flash Gordon), as well as a number of video games (Madden NFL ’08, NHL ’08, etc.), and commercials (Payless‘09, Mazda ‘08).
Behind the new wave-inspired Jupiter One, the band members—having quit their day jobs—criss-crossed the States, building a fan base and surviving on Subway’s five-dollar footlong special, laughs Heilman. “We spent 14 months sluggin’ it out in the clubs,” he says. “We did not want to be some sort of boring web sensation. We wanted to meet our fans face to face.” And the work has paid off. “It’s definitely a show we’ve put time into, so it’s not just four guys playing a song, it’s supposed to be a spectacle,” says Colwell.
With producer/engineer Ribando at the controls, Sunshower embraces warmer, analog sounds and vintage recording techniques. “It’s the sound of the four of us playing together, rather than layering in the studio,” says Colwell. “Instead of piecemeal, it’s the way we actually sound live.”
Forgetting the sound for a minute, and thinking about the songs, Ishibashi adds: “We just want people to internalize them. We want Sunshower to be a journey.”
Simple Stones
Jupiter One Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Let's light a fire, make the forest glow
Watch the stars and the way they look
My heartbeat shakes the liquid in the cup you hold
Did your coffee get too cold?
You just pour it out and mark the ground
This is our ground
"I'm right here next to you,"
Ok. I piece it together sometimes
When I'm right here next to you...Aha!
You purse your lips and blow the steam into my eyes
A tree beside the fire is bare,
So much better with no disguise
My heartbeat shakes the liquid in the cup you hold
And the branches in the cold
While a leaf drops down -the last one of the season
Seems like I was waiting to hear you say
"I'm right here next to you,"
Ok. I piece it together sometimes
When I'm right here next to you...Aha!
Seems like such a simple little thing to say -
"I'm right here next to you,"
Ok, but I could build a fortress with simple stones
Right here next to you, you know
Can you see me
Can you feel me
Can you hear me
Can you know me
Can you love me
Can you show me
Can you tell me
I'm right here next to you
The opening lines of the song, “They leave us so, with no goodbye, to the way we took” suggests a sense of loss or a feeling of being stranded. However, the following lines “Let's light a fire, make the forest glow, Watch the stars and the way they look” imply that the singer is not alone, and that they have someone with whom they can create beauty and find wonder in the world around them. The lines “My heartbeat shakes the liquid in the cup you hold, Did your coffee get too cold? You just pour it out and mark the ground, This is our ground” imply a sense of intimacy, and the idea that they are entering a shared space together. The singer is aware of their partner’s presence, and they are relying on each other for support.
The chorus of the song suggests a yearning for connection and reassurance. The lines “Seems like I was waiting to hear you say ‘I'm right here next to you,’ Ok. I piece it together sometimes, When I'm right here next to you...Aha!” imply a need for constant affirmation that their loved one is close by. The lines “Can you see me, Can you feel me, Can you hear me, Can you know me, Can you love me, Can you show me, Can you tell me, I'm right here next to you” emphasize the importance of being present with another person on multiple levels. The song closes with the lines “Ok, but I could build a fortress with simple stones, Right here next to you, you know.” These lines convey a sense of loyalty, and the idea that in the face of loss or uncertainty, they can remain strong as long as they are together.
Line by Line Meaning
They leave us so, with no goodbye, to the way we took
It feels like people, memories, or things that were once important to us, have left us without a proper farewell, leaving us feeling disoriented and lost in the ways we are used to.
Let's light a fire, make the forest glow
Instead of being lost in memories of the past, let's create something new for ourselves, a new adventure to fire up our passions and light the path forward, no matter how dark it may seem.
Watch the stars and the way they look
While we travel down this new path, let's take a moment to appreciate the beauty around us and take inspiration from those stars that guide us in our journey.
My heartbeat shakes the liquid in the cup you hold
The intensity of my feelings is so great that it vibrates and shakes everything around me, even causing the liquid in the cup my partner is holding to move and tremble.
Did your coffee get too cold?
In light of the intensity of the current moment, something as small as the temperature of the coffee seems insignificant, but it's a part of our shared experience, and I care about it.
You just pour it out and mark the ground
Rather than viewing the coffee as a waste and something to discard, let's see it as a canvas, a chance to create something new, something that we can mark as our own and symbolize our shared experience and intimacy.
This is our ground
This new path that we have set out on together is ours to cherish and make into something beautiful.
Seems like I was waiting to hear you say "I'm right here next to you",
Even though we are together, it can be hard to feel connected to my partner at times, but simply hearing that they are here with me feels like the reassurance and affirmation I needed to feel close to them and to navigate our journey together.
Ok. I piece it together sometimes When I'm right here next to you...Aha!
Being together helps me parse my thoughts and feelings, and when things click into place, it feels like an epiphany or revelation that helps bring us closer together.
You purse your lips and blow the steam into my eyes
The playfulness and intimacy of sharing a cup of coffee continues, and my partner's teasing gesture is a reminder of our connection and shared experience.
A tree beside the fire is bare, So much better with no disguise
The tree, stripped of its leaves, is a symbol of the raw and honest intimacy shared between us without the need for pretense or facade. It brings us closer together.
And the branches in the cold, While a leaf drops down -the last one of the season
As the seasons change and life moves forward, we are reminded of the inevitable change and loss that comes along with it, but even in these moments, we are together and there is beauty to be found.
Seems like I was waiting to hear you say "I'm right here next to you",
Once again, hearing that my partner is here with me helps me feel close and connected, even in moments of loss or uncertainty.
Ok. I piece it together sometimes When I'm right here next to you...Aha!
Together, we can navigate anything that comes our way, and it's through our shared experience and intimacy that we can find clarity and a sense of understanding.
Seems like such a simple little thing to say -"I'm right here next to you",
The power of the simple statement of our emotional and physical proximity cannot be understated, it is a grounding force that helps us find our way and stay connected.
Ok, but I could build a fortress with simple stones
In light of the power of this simple statement, I am empowered to build something even greater, a fortress or foundation of our shared experience and intimacy, that can withstand any challenges or difficulties that come our way.
Right here next to you, you know
The foundation we build together is strong and unbreakable, and it gives us the courage to face whatever comes our way with strength and togetherness.
Can you see me, Can you feel me, Can you hear me, Can you know me, Can you love me, Can you show me, Can you tell me, I'm right here next to you
This repeated plea is a reminder of the deep emotional and physical connection we share, and it's a reminder of the healing and transformative power of the simple act of being present and together.
Contributed by Aiden D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.