I previewed sundayclub’s new dreamy janglepop gem of a record via its first two singles in May, and with their self-titled debut out today I’d be remiss if I didn’t also share the third part in their trilogy of videos, released a couple weeks ago as the final preview of the record, or the fourth video which is technically not a preview since it dropped alongside the album earlier today. The “Sad Summer” clip is subtitled “Part III – The Funeral”, following “The Party” and “The Date”, so that should give you an idea of how that narrative went – and while “Croydon Ave (To Meet You)” doesn’t have a part designator, it certainly ties into the others aesthetically

They talked to The Line Of Best Fit about the album and “Sad Summer”, clarifying their position on the season:

I actually love summer. It’s the best time in Manitoba because it’s the only bearable time we have.

Courtney Carmichael, sundayclub
sundayclub are mourning the moment with “Sad Summer” @ The Line Of Best Fit

In conversation with Spill, they try to summarize the overall theme of the new album:

We’ve made this over such a long period of time, during a very formative time where there’s been a lot of big life changes. We’ve been through university, deaths in the family, new friends, old friends…I kind of chuckle because I’ll reference the good old days, and it’s like, hang on, you were a child when you wrote that! What are you reminiscing about?

Courtney Carmichael, sundayclub
Spill Feature: Diction, Language & Flowery Words – a Conversation With Courtney Carmichael & Nikki St. Pierre of Sundayclub @ Spill

And The Tonearm asked them about the vibe of nostalgia that permeates the record:

I think we’re very nostalgic people, which is odd because we are young, but we sort of began to ask ourselves and take stock of what we wrote, and instead we shifted at the end from what we’re hearing sonically to what this album is about. What does it mean? Because you just write song by song, and you don’t really think about the huge collective theme behind it. I guess I didn’t. When we finished the record, I sort of identified a lot of yearning, reminiscing, and I guess that translates to nostalgia.

Courtney Carmichael, sundayclub
The Long Nostalgia of sundayclub’s Manitoban Dream Pop @ The Tonearm

They also talk to First Revival about how they made a shoegaze record without realizing it:

So you had written the album and were recording it, but then realized that the music you were making was kinda shoegaze, kinda dream pop. Was it just a matter of hearing Slowdive that you learned that the music you were playing was part of this genre?

CC: Honestly, it wasn’t until the press started writing about it… Like when we were signed, they weren’t saying, “Oh, you guys really do shoegaze.” I actually think what we had made was genreless, if that’s even a thing, until the press started writing more about it. Which is funny. It’s like this retroactive thing. I think if you go back on my Instagram, my personal Instagram, I have a picture of Rachel [Goswell] that I had posted in about 2021. And so we were dabbling…

NS: Well, when you did that, I was like, you barely listen to Slowdive.

CC: Yeah, he was like, “This is so poser of you! You don’t don’t really listen to that band.” But I would say it wasn’t until 2025, when the record was done, that we really dove in to Slowdive and Cocteau Twins, a lot more of that dreamy, hazy music.

An interview with sundayclub @ First Revival

sundayclub have a couple local shows coming up – at the end of July as part of Loveless Festival, playing July 25 at St Stephen-In-The-Fields, and they’re on the bill as part of Second Summer taking place at west end venues at the end of September; specifics still forthcoming.