Sun Ray, parts 1 & 2 (Music Monday)

My favorite music is both technical and groovy, lyrically deep but catchy, smart in the studio and on stage. As far as I’m concerned, Mutemath is the total package. I’m not sure if they’ve ever gotten much attention, but I just discovered they did some live recordings for VH-1 (which still exists!) and you NEED to go find their cover of “Fallin'” by Alicia Keys, which I must add has a heavy dose of “House of the Rising Sun” mixed in.

As excited as I am about that, an unlikely song has been haunting my thoughts these past few months: an instrumental broken into two tracks, called “Sun Ray.” Very smooth and chill, but with the kind of rhythm you count on from King & Mitchell-Cardenes. I think the thing that gets me most is the pulsing vibrato in those opening chords (which comes out clearer in the studio mix). You can hear the whole thing performed together here in this fan recording, which also gives you a little taste of their on-stage visuals:

Sun Ray, parts 1 & 2 by Mutemath