Named #8 in Ultimate-Guitar’s top 12 guitarists of 2015 and listed amongst MusicRadar’s “#1 prog guitar player in the world right now” for 2017, Sydney’s independent instrumental progressive rising star, PLINI is set to release his new EP, Sunhead on July 27.
Filmed on PLINI’s recent US tour and premiered via Prog mag, check out the new video to the single ‘Charcoal and Dust’ below!
The EP is released ahead of his second European tour this summer and a monster European tour this autumn with TesseracT and Between The Buried and Me.
Sunhead is written, recorded and produced by PLINI himself – and for the most part, all from a bedroom studio. PLINI explains the writing process and what inspired him: ‘I started working on the material almost straight after “Handmade Cities” was released in 2016, sort of with the goal to make a very big, small EP – aiming to put as much detail and refinement into the composition and playing as possible. Both musically and emotionally, the music is greatly influenced by the amount of touring and travel I’ve done in the past couple of years. I was particularly inspired by Animals As Leaders (who I toured Europe and North America with in 2016), by the musical adventurousness in their last album, and Disperse (who I toured with in Europe in early 2017) for the way they seamlessly combined contemporary pop and electronic elements with prog-metal – updating a genre that sometimes seems (ironically for the name, “progressive”) entrenched in old musical cliches. Aside from this, I think the “Sunhead” EP is a musical expression of the pure excitement that comes with traveling to new places, meeting new people and eating new things.’
Sunhead features some exciting collaborations, including backing vocals and production from Skyharbor’s Devesh Dayal (‘Salt & Charcoal’), saxophone from The 1975’s John Waugh (‘Flâneur’), piano and keyboards from Anomalie (‘Flâneur’) and a guitar solo from Tim Miller on ‘Sunhead’. The recording line up is completed with drummer Chris Allison and bassist Simon Grove, with PLINI performing everything else.
The EP announcement follows PLINI’s triumphant performance at Download Festival, where the band were the first instrumental guitar band to ever play the fest; Be Prog! My Friend (Barcelona), and a highly successful European tour with Arch Echo and Mestis. PLINI will next embark on a second European tour which includes dates at Arctangent (UK), Brutal Assault (CZ) and a headline show at London’s Islington Assembly that’s on track to sell-out. Dates:
10/08/18 – CZE, Musicians Festival, KARLOVY VARY
11/08/18 – CZE, Brutal Assault, FORTRESS JOSEFOV
14/08/18 – HUN, A38 Roof, BUDAPEST
15/08/18 – POL, Alchemia, KRAKOW
16/08/18 – POL, Hydrozadadka, WARSAW
18/08/18 – UK, ArcTenGent Festival, SOMERSET
19/08/18 – UK, Islington Assembly Hall, LONDON
22/08/18 – MLT, IR-Razzett L’Ahmar, MOSTA
PLINI will end the year on tour in Europe with TesseracT and Between the Buried and Me:
09/11/18 – DE, Cologne, Live Music Hall
10/11/18 – NL, Nijmegen, Doornroosje
11/11/18 – BE, Vosselaar, Biebob
12/11/18 – FR, Paris, Le Trabendo
13/11/18 – DE, Aschaffenburg, Colos-Saal
14/11/18 – DE, Hamburg, Gruenspan
15/11/18 – DK, Copenhagen, Pumpehuset
16/11/18 – NO, Oslo, Parkteatret
17/11/18 – SE, Stockholm, Kägelbanan
19/11/18 – DE, Berlin, Lido
20/11/18 – DE, Stuttgart, Im Wizemann
21/11/18 – AT, Vienna, Flex
22/11/18 – DE, Munich, Backstage
23/11/18 – CH, Aarau, Kiff
24/11/18 – IT, Parma, Campus Industry
25/11/18 – LU, Esch, Rockhal