Portland Alternative Pop / Postmodern Rock band Sun Atoms have released previewed new single “Ceiling Tiles” along with a video that follows ghosts through an endless maze. Out on February 23rd, 2024 digitally and on 7″ vinyl via Little Cloud Records, the B-side pays tribute to Leonard Cohen on “Tower of Song (in the key of JAMC)“.
The song was written around a baseline by Peter G. Holmstrom (The Dandy Warhols, Pete International Airport), who also produced it, this single was mixed by Jagz Kooner (Massive Attack, Primal Scream, Oasis, Garbage).
This is the first taste of the band’s sophomore album, to be released in late Spring, following up their debut album Let There Be Light which featured performances by members of The Black Angels, The Vandelles and Sheryl Crow‘s band.
Jsun Atoms shares:
When I was a child, I saw a being made of light climb through my bedroom window, they stood at the foot of my bed and reached out to touch my foot. Mesmerizing and haunting, much like the new Sun Atoms single ‘Ceiling Tiles’, which reveals a story of characters living under a faux sky being manipulated to make it appear that the stars are aligning, when in fact, above this tiled Truman Show, the stars are doing just that. The characters in the song go about their day-to-day dance while the globe they are spinning on becomes an eye.
Filmed by Brady Tuazon, this video follows several characters, who come to life from of a deck of tarot cards. It’s a “cautionary tale of a dystopian future, some of which is already materializing before our eyes now.”
As Sun Atoms kicked off 2024 by playing three sold-out shows at Portland’s historic Revolution Hall, opening for Dinosaur Jr., this presented the perfect chance to shoot this video.
Tuazon comments on the video:
I wanted to conjure the same feelings I had the first time I saw Sun Atoms perform this song. Jsun and I were in lockstep as we discussed the vision for the video. We pulled in inspiration from Jean Cocteau and other noir films like “The Killing” by Kubrick.
Working within the boundaries of black and white let us emphasize the theme of two worlds in a psychedelic noir manner. Portraying each member as their normal selves and as a ghost version adds another layer to the duality. It makes us ask the questions, “If our own ghosts saw us today, would they be kind and encouraging to us? Or would they be spirits signaling their existence as a cautionary tale? Filming the video was a true testament of the grit and creative solidarity at the core of Portland creatives. We had limited time and resources to pull this off.
TOUR DATES
March 23 BOISE, ID – Treefort Festival, In-store at Record Exchange
March 24 BOISE, ID – Treefort Festival, Shrine Social Club
March 25 SACRAMENTO, CA – Old Ironsides
March 27 LAS VEGAS, NV – The Usual Place
March 28 LOS ANGELES, CA – The Moroccan Lounge
March 29 PIONEERTOWN, CA – Red Dog Saloon
March 30 SAN FRANSCISCO, CA – Kilowatt
April 5 PORTLAND, Oregon – Star Theater
April 6 SEATTLE, WA – Seagaze Festival, Tractor Tavern Seattle
