Greg Weeks 
Reaching into the past and future lately, Greg Weeks (Espers, The Valerie Project) cracks open 2026 with his first album in nearly seventeen years. Last year brought the long-awaited issue of Grass’ sole album, a record that included Weeks alongside members of Feathers, Espers, Brightblack Morning Light, and Currituck Co. The archival dig swung a well-needed spotlight back towards Weeks just in time for his modern-day return. If The Sun Dies is ensconced in all of the psych-folk trappings that drew me to works of Espers in the early aughts and made Grass a welcome return last year. The new album retains Weeks’ penchant for balancing grandeur with a dour heaviness. There’s always been a sense that clouds gather in droves over the tapes when Weeks is working and his allusions to darkness and desperation on If The Sun Dies keep the overcast pallor in tact.
Built on the stately pluck of strings, a haunting whirlpool of keys, and pacing that suggests autumnal wandering; the record is steeped in the soft smells of decay. It’s hard not to feel the rot of wood in between the bars, or the musk of fungal bouquets in the ambiance of the record. If The Sun Dies is not a record for spring, or even summer, but for days when dampness pervades and light dies, pulling at the heart in heavy sighs. As much as the world might need a lighter reprieve these days, it can benefit from a mossy oubliette in dark times too. If The Sun Dies isn’t gonna tell you to smile, that’s for sure. Centerpiece “Dream You Awake,” even grinds the grey streaks under its heels with a flash of amplifier smolder. The song slips into Weeks’ ability to move from mournful to malice, igniting the soft strums with charred leads that scar the speakers with ash and anguish. The record doesn’t rest on Weeks’ past, though. While it retains a light longing for the ‘00s and the Anglican paths that led there, the record drapes psych-folk around modern hues. It’s fallen out of fashion, but If The Sun Dies is a welcome reminder that folk needn’t be gentle, bucolic, or breezy to be beautiful.
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