- Claude Speeed's first solo album, My Skeleton, was a graceful sweep of orchestral strings, pianos and swelling walls of sound. Sun Czar Temple is very much a continuation of My Skeleton's moods and atmospheres and, like its full-length counterpart, works best when treated as one continuous piece.
The EP's first half is made up of muscular yet blissful soundscapes. "Traumzeuge" kicks off in fourth gear with a cacophonous, multi-layered field of distortion, a barely discernible melody and bass that wouldn't sound out of place on a Sunn O))) record. A surprise comes near the end, when it all dissipates into a faraway pop song, as Speeed's yearning voice and a simple guitar melody pierce through the noise. "Dr. Liz Wilson" is almost as dense but a little gentler, with an undulating haze of pads, chimes and bass.
The short, field recordings-based "VIN" ushers in a second half that finds Speeed adding more textures to his crashing walls of sound. "Fret" takes chaotic high notes and freeform drum claps into its gale of pads, while "R U Sorry?" is slow but epic—a shifting cast of orchestral swells and sparse bass melodies eventually gives way to a twinkle of harp notes. Sun Czar Temple shows there's still plenty of mileage in Claude Speeed's current template.
TracklistA1 Traumzeuge
A2 Dr. Liz Wilson
A3 VIN
B1 Fret
B2 R U Sorry?