Last week, SPIN shared the video for the first single ‘Get Down’. Frontman Justin Osborne said, “Although it carries a fun and light-hearted air, the song was actually inspired by a scary time in my life, when a close friend was battling substance abuse issues and openly discussing suicide. I knew it was a cry for help, but at the same time I was privately dealing with some of the same issues and felt unable to help because of my own problems. As I began to write the song, I realized that there was hope and even strength in the knowledge that we were both struggling. Although we were coping with mental health separately, it still felt like we were kindred.
“I eventually took this song to that same friend, and they helped me finish it. Now it feels like we’ve both found our way to a better place mentally and emotionally. The song is like an anthem for finding those people in your life who are struggling like you, then overcoming those struggles together. That person could be a friend, a partner, a family member, or even a stranger…sometimes we all just need a struggle buddy, and that’s basically what 'Get Down' is about.”
See the ‘Get Down’ video, which was co-directed by Meg Ha & Gillian Skipper, and written by Justin’s brother Joe Osborne HERE.
The joy of birth, the closure of death, the warmth of true friendship, and the future rotate on the axis of Time in the Sun, which is the band’s New West Records debut. Osborne distils this ebb and flow into songs underpinned by lyrical eloquence, unpredictable dynamics, and a thoroughly alive rock and roll spirit.
Prior to entering the studio, Osborne became a father and midway through recording, lost his own father to cancer. Osborne says, “Because I had begun writing when I found out I was going to be a dad, these events were the biggest inspirations for the record. It felt like I was in between the beginning and end of life. Up until my own father passed away, I felt like it was an album about new life and becoming a parent. His passing shifted the narrative towards the cyclical nature of life, death, and new births.”
Since 2013, Justin Osborne has quietly prepared to make such a statement as Time in the Sun. He began penning songs as a teenager in South Carolina and after a hiatus from music, relocated to Havana, Cuba. While there, he befriended local musicians who encouraged him to focus on writing songs again. The band’s name SUSTO is derived from a Latin American term that can be roughly translated as ‘panic attack’. Osborne says, “That deep fright was something that I was experiencing, and songwriting felt like it was helping me cure it.”
SUSTO has become a live favourite through constant headline touring, support dates with The Lumineers, Band of Horses, The Head and the Heart, as well as festival appearances at Austin City Limits, Hangout Fest, Stagecoach, Hopscotch, Pickathon, AmericanaFest and more.
SUSTO’s Time in the Sun will be available across digital platforms, compact disc, and standard black vinyl. A limited Translucent Orange colour vinyl edition including an autographed 11x17 poster will be available at Independent Retailers, while a limited Deep Purple colour vinyl edition featuring an autographed cover is available now for pre-order via New West Records.
TIME IN THE SUN TRACKLISTING
1. Time, Love & Fun
2. Get Down
3. Summertime
4. God of Death
5. Be Gone from Me
6. Good Right Now
7. Life Is Suffering
8. Resolve It
9. Mother of the World
10. Double Rainbow
11. All Around the World
