Sunjay – Split The Sheets: Love, Loss and the Beauty of Keeping It Real

Album Review by Halina Wegner – Jace Media Music

There is something wonderfully honest about an artist who understands that the best songs do not need to shout to make themselves heard. Sometimes all they need is a guitar, a great melody, a lived-in voice and a story worth telling. Sunjay’s Split The Sheets has all of those qualities in abundance, delivering an album steeped in Americana, blues, country, folk and old-school rock ’n’ roll while sounding remarkably fresh.

Released September 18 through Mighty Tight Records, Split The Sheets is Sunjay’s tenth studio album and completes a trilogy of records exploring the music and songwriters who have shaped his artistic journey. Following Black & Blues Revisited and the Chris Smither tribute I’m Just Like You, this feels like the closing chapter of an important period in his musical development.

Sunjay’s journey itself is impressive. He was a BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award nominee in 2012 and won the Wath Festival Young Performers Award that same year. More than a decade later, the youthful promise has developed into something considerably more assured.

Opening with ‘That’s Love’, the album immediately establishes its character. Warm, relaxed and effortlessly melodic, it has that rare ability to sound both contemporary and as though it has been sitting in a record collection for decades. There is groove here, but never at the expense of the song.

‘It Must Be Love’ keeps the momentum moving, while ‘Hundred Dollar Valentine’ brings another dose of character. Sunjay has a natural ability to make these songs feel conversational rather than performed at the listener, and that intimacy becomes one of the album’s greatest strengths.

Then comes ‘It’s Late’, before ‘Take Out Some Insurance’ stretches out into one of the record’s more substantial moments. The latter has already demonstrated its potential, with production built around groove, dynamics and impact rather than simply attempting to recreate a vintage blues sound.

There is a wonderful musicianship throughout the album. Sunjay handles vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, percussion and his trademark foot percussion, while a superb supporting cast adds Hammond organ, piano, fiddle, harmonica, slide guitar, bass, drums and backing vocals. The arrangements never feel overcrowded; instead, each musician appears to understand precisely when to step forward and when to let the song breathe.

‘Love’s Made a Fool of You’ brings a shorter, sharper burst of rootsy charm before ‘I’ll Never Fall In Love Again’, a George Borowski cover, demonstrates Sunjay’s ability to take another writer’s material and make it feel completely at home within his own world.

One of the album’s standout moments is ‘Killing the Blues’, where the combination of vocal warmth and understated instrumentation creates exactly the sort of late-night atmosphere the title suggests. ‘Fallin’ Out’, ‘If I Needed You’ and ‘Who Do You Love’ continue exploring the complicated territory of relationships, while ‘Do You Know What I Mean’ and ‘My Baby Don’t Tolerate’ inject further personality. By the time we reach ‘45 Years’, Split The Sheets has revealed itself as far more than another collection of roots covers. It is a celebration of songwriting, musicianship and the enduring power of a good story.

Sunjay doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel. He simply knows how to make it roll beautifully.