The brothers Chamberlain; press photo courtesy of Kevin W Condon.

Between the expansive bookends of yesterday and tomorrow stands the solar shining moment of now. The present is bathed in the light of a new day, washed in the reflective lunar beams cast by the moon's calming gaze, where everything that was before and everything that will be are met in the imperfect tense intersection of today. The roads both well and less traveled extend in the sprawling scope of the rearview with the sweeping panoramic wide screen span of the new horizon populates the landscape real estate seen ahead through the dirt and dust streaked windshield. We are told by our elders that time is fleeting and by the time it takes to recognize the happenstance in progress — that very moment has transitioned itself into a memory in the winding narratives and tractates of developing histories.

Brooklyn based brotherly duo Van Chamberlain lean into existential meditations on their new album In the Sun via the chic cult boutique imprint Very Jazzed. Van and Jacob cut their teeth touring in Eternal Drag, Phantom Buffalo, following up their 2019 demo “L.Y.” (known as “Light Years” on the new album) with their full length debut delayed, like everything else in the world, by the global pandemic. Hunkering down in the Williamsburg studio Strange Weather with engineer/producer Garret de Block; Van Chamberlain creatively crystalize that curious liminal place where the past and present meet like intercepts and plots on a graph of grand vision. The concepts of heart and honest reflection are expressed through a robust sound that resonates like the eternal California sun met by the endless winters of New York.

In the Sun rises and lights up the sky, earth and sea with the awe-striking opener "Heavy Cloud". Van and Jacob begin the album with a pensive and poignant ballad that illuminates the foyer of the record with candid reflections that are gracefully carried forward as fragments of wisdom for what visions and lessons the new dawning may bring. The lauded single "Light Years" brightens the corners of thoughts from days and nights past, channeling those sentiments serenely and gallantly with an attitude of gratitude and grace. Van Chamberlain curate a song cycle of modern day lullabies to quell and assuage the the tumult of these turbulent times. "A.G.T.", or "All Good Things" accentuates the sublime and substantial items that make living worthwhile. Perfect harmonies swing and sway amid an array of meticulously crafted chords and rhythms as witnessed on "The Other Side", as tinges of timeless psychedelia are subtly turned up like entering into the fanciful frames of a lush picture book.

This motif permeates the title track, that progresses like getting lost in the daydream haze of feeling and thought on a lost midday sojourn spent at a grassy park. The brothers Chamberlain create a vibe as if the audience was privy to their photo albums depicting travels and treasured events as felt on the endearing "87", treading the troubles with half-truths on "Pretty Lies" that sparkles like a long haired 90s power pop gem clad in stylishly disheveled and worn flannel clobber. Pastoral portraits of lavish green and blue landscapes are exhibited in song on "Simic", sashaying into the temporal plane of short term rewards and reckoning of "Empty Schemes". The brothers bring us to the album's sun down, "Smiley Face", a swan song that sends up echoes of experience and glimmering progressions and keys that resonate outward in a slow cinematic zoom-out that reveals a world emanating with the sparkle of a mystic light.

The brothers Van & Jacob Chamberlain delivered the following reflective ode to their new record:

If we had to sum it up, In the Sun is an album that’s about opening ourselves back up—about embracing whatever comes next. It’s an account of equal amounts of luck and loss. In the Sun is an ode to impermanence.

Stepping into the haze of light with Van Chamberlain; press photo courtesy of Kevin W Condon.

Interior/exterior, a blurring of the line between those two things was a concept we got really into during our time living in California, where a sunnier disposition influences both spatial and internal experiences. Creativity came easier in a land with fewer barriers and this is where the stage was set for the concept of the album as we headed into the studio after relocating to Brooklyn.

Reflections from the Van Chamberlain brothers; press photo courtesy of Kevin W Condon.

Living in New York quickly began to influence our sound. Rhythmic drums and angular guitar divided by a wash of ambience—that’s what living here sounded like to us.

Basking in the sun with Van Chamberlain; press photo courtesy of the artists.

Our engineer and producer Garret de Block did amazing work bringing all the complexities of our influences and vision to life. Strange Weather studio is a happy place for us, its a room that inspires creativity, experimentation, and of course contains the lushest, densest reverb imaginable. The two of us have played music together since we were kids, and this feels like a culmination of everything that's been building to it, the latest in a series of all good things.

Van Chamberlain’s In the Sun will be available April 8 via Very Jazzed.

PREMIERE | Van Chamberlain, 'In the Sun'