In this ‘Listed’ feature, we get to know the most radicalist up-and-coming stars through a themed list of their top musical picks. 

This time we speak with hazy, indie-pop five-piece Saltwater Sun.

At a time when guitar-based music couldn’t reasonably be called the “flavour of the month”, Reading-based quintet Saltwater Sun decisively embarked on an expansive brand of indie that simultaneously courted the worlds of summertime levity and grunged-out angst. It was a project that hardly guaranteed a template for commercial success, but Saltwater Sun’s infectious music continues to speak for itself, offering earworm hooks, soaring guitar lines and driving rhythms.

As evidenced by their 2015 debut ‘Habit On My Mind’, their “rallying cry against the ruthless” ‘Now Or Never’ and most recently their rumination on 21^st century detachment ‘The Wire’, the combined efforts of Jennifer Stearnes, Dan Kingham, Joel Neale, Rob Carter and Ben Chandler have proved a winning partnership time and time again. As such, it should come as no surprise that we’re eager to hear what this affable five-piece have planned next.

In an effort to get to know the band a little better before their performances at both Hand In Hive x TMR showcases (in association with CALM) in Brighton, we thought the best course of action would be to ask the five-piece to curate a themed playlist of their own choosing. So, true in their commitment to both the party and a contrasting melancholy, here’s Saltwater Sun’s ‘10 Songs to Soundtrack the Apocalypse’.

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1. Sigur Rós - ‘Gong’

Jen Stearnes: The swirling strings build into a truly epic crescendo of pounding piano and the growling bowed guitar that has become synonymous with the band, evoking imagery of cataclysmic events and freak weather. This is in no small part due to their production involving an indoor rainstorm when I saw them live at Alexandra Palace. Awesome in the truest sense of the word.



2. John Grant - ‘Pale Green Ghosts’ (with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra)

JS: Featuring Rachmaninoff’s ‘Prelude in C# Minor’ as a truly inspired introduction, this particular arrangement of this song makes for one of the most brooding and foreboding tracks around. I saw John perform with the Icelandic Philharmonic Orchestra at Harpa, Reykjavik, which is an incredible venue, almost an art installation in itself. When this track started, I half expected the sky to cave in. It remains one of my favourite performances to date.



3. Pink Floyd - ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’

Dan Kingham: This track builds up so well, it’s full of dark tones and intricate sounds floating in and out, I can imagine it as the perfect theme tune for discovering the loneliness and devastation. It would definitely be in my headphones as I walked through the post-apocalyptic world... if I didn’t have to keep my ears switched on for the inevitable herd of zombies.



4. Anna Meredith - ‘Nautilus’

JS: This song is inherently stressful in the best possible way. You can imagine listening to this whilst getting ready for a battle.



5. Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - ‘Hiding All Away’

JS: You couldn’t soundtrack the end of the world without the king of gloom himself, Nick Cave. This song has everything, utter filth, cannibalism; it’s almost biblical. ‘We all know there is a war coming, coming from above. THERE IS A WAR COMING.’



6. Gunship - ‘Tech Noir’

Rob Carter: Named after a nightclub in The Terminator, this song starts with a monologue by John Carpenter, in which he describes an apocalyptic dystopia. The continuous pounding bass line conveys the sense of having to keep moving, never stopping, as though your life depends on it. The majority of the song feels dark, however the choruses open up, giving a sense of hope, which is what would drive me to continue in an apocalyptic scenario.



7. Limp Bizkit - ‘Boiler’

Ben Chandler: Calm, quiet, isolated. Then all of a sudden... DANGER, CHAOS, VIOLENCE. The track flows between very contrasting sections of floaty, subdued verses and heavy aggressive choruses, reflecting these kind of scenarios an apocalypse would bring. This is also evident in the lyrical theme where people’s morality would be tested, perhaps using others to their advantage and discarding them once their purpose has been served.



8. Coheed and Cambria - ‘Welcome Home’

Joel Neale: For me this is the march of the apocalypse, you can just imagine two satanic demons playing the dueling guitar solos in the outro. As an aside, Claudio’s hair would be an excellent place to take shelter.



9. Big Thief - ‘Mary’

JS: Arguably one of the most beautiful songs ever written, ‘Mary’ has a stillness to it that feels otherworldly yet familiar, all at once. It conjures up images of starlit exploration on warm summer nights with a dear friend, soundtracked by crickets chirping and babbling streams. Lenker’s lyrics manage to tap into memories I have of being a child and the simplicity of that, as well as the feeling of platonic and familial love, like an aural security blanket. It is a soundtrack for reminiscence and reflection, and if I had accepted my fate and that the world was ending, I wouldn’t mind this being the last song I heard.



10. Björk - ‘Cosmonogy’

JS: The Big Bang through the eyes of Björk. After it’s over and we’re gone, we’re returned to the stars. I like to think of all of the elements being born of exploding supernovas, giving birth to multiple universes. After all, we are just matter. It’s nice to take comfort in being infinitesimal.



Catch Saltwater Sun both at the free Hand In Hive x TMR Showcase on Friday 18^th May at Brighton’s The Mucky Duck, and at the official Great Escape on Saturday 19^th.

-Karl Jawara