Heartworn

Prague-born and London-based urban daydreamer David Zbirka returns with Sunnbrella’s first full length album, co-produced by Patrick James Fitzroy (PVA, Sorry). Zbirka has been worshipping in the church of shoegaze since 2018 debut Feelin’ Invisible, which was followed up by a clutch of singles and an EP that served his band well at festivals like Standon Calling and Metronome. Heartworn is a lockdown project several years in the making, written and recorded in parallel with those early ventures.Sunnbrella is a project we might describe as a fuzzy libation to classic early 90s acts like Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine. It is also a treat for fans of contemporary nu gaze acts bdrmm and Hatchie. If Heartworn is a prayer, though, it is a gleeful and irreverent one. Euphoric distortion and windswept vocal harmonies collide as if in slow motion with determined dance rhythms straight out of the warehouse. It is an enticing and intuitive way forward for a genre that was originally teased for being populated by bands that stood dead still on stage.