SondorBlue Releases New EP, Throws Release Party

SondorBlue’s new EP You Will Find Love on Ashley Avenue was released on Friday, October 13th. The EP contains five songs, two of which (“Opinions” and “Ashley Ave”) were released as singles leading up to the official release date. In addition to the EP, the band also released a superb cover of late 70s hit “Walking on the Moon” by The Police, which they’ve been known to throw in their live sets. You can stream that below this paragraph, so press play while you read the rest. This article is about the new EP, though, and I want to start by saying I think You Will Find Love On Ashley Ave (simply Ashley Ave from here on) has significantly more guts to it than Realometer, which I already thought was a strong EP.

Where Realometer focused on the vocals, Ashley Ave brings to light the crooners’ musicianship, without losing sight of vocal harmonies that have helped them gain a dedicated fan base all over South Carolina. What I mean is instead of simply hearing talented dudes sing heartfelt songs, we get talented dudes singing heartfelt songs while playing loud, and I think that puts Ashley Ave on a different, higher plane. Listening to Ashley Ave feels a lot more like listening to a rock album.

The rock ‘n’ roll side of SondorBlue was something that we didn’t hear all that much of on their earlier recorded material, but that they brought to their shows in full force. I can name a few times when I heard people in the crowd at a SondorBlue show talking about how much more energy the band had on stage than they did on the stuff rotating around 105.5 The Bridge (notably “More Than Reality”), and in my experience that has been a universally positive reaction. With the release of “Opinions” back in February, SondorBlue revealed for the first time in the studio what they were capable of as a band, and this EP shows more promise in that regard.

SondorBlue will be at the Music Farm this Friday night to celebrate the release of Ashley Ave. They will be joined by fellow South Carolina artists Dear Blanca (Columbia) and Daddy’s Beemer (Clemson). There’s a special promotion surrounding the new EP and subsequent Music Farm show that could win you a few prizes, including merchandise, free tickets, and VIP green room passes. To put yourself in the running, simply follow this Spotify playlist and add the songs from Ashley Ave to one of your own playlists, then take a screenshot and send it to the band. The linked playlist is constructed of songs that SondorBlue used as inspiration during the writing and recording of the new EP, and is worth checking out even if you don’t enter the giveaway.

Get your tickets to the Music Farm here, or pay $10 at the door, $7 with student ID. Stream You Will Find Love on Ashley Avenue below.

BONUS: Here’s a live rendition of track two off Ashley Ave, “I Hate Living Like This”. SondorBlue linked up with their friend Taylor Hickman of B-Side Sessions to record this one at Fairweather Studio. Enjoy all the new stuff.