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As her voice has started to seep past the cracks of a door that traps modern mantras in R&B and soul, Orion Sun delivers a peek into her forthcoming album Orion, out September 20, in the form of her late single “Sweet.” A mash of both Sun’s ethereal vocals and a backing arrangement that weaves and wobbles through emotions, it's a sure sign of introspection beckoning in evolution. 

"Sweet" follows “Mary Jane” and “Already Gone,” her first two singles leading up to this new release. While that pair of singles was a far more indie-fused float down the freeway than this newest release, the disparity invites curiosity and confirms the notion that Sun is bubbling over with new ideas to share. However varied those efforts come, they ultimately feel glued together by her singular voice—always feeling something and never afraid to share what it is.

Her influences, while clear, are rarely apparent in such a blatant sense that they’re derivative of anything prior. There are whispers of bluesy predecessors and inklings of hip-hop and R&B scattered around the vast spaces this track sits in, yet Sun feels siloed on an island of her own when it comes to those labels. They feel arbitrary, even reductive of the bigger picture she’s still in the process of painting. 

The track details a former relationship, one that’s undoubtedly past its expiration date, yet here she's still grappling with that sour aftertaste. Visualized by a spotlight in a dingy kitchen in the track’s music video, you get the sense that the previously mentioned isolation is a sentiment as internal as it is external in perception. “There’s a hole in the sun / emptiness isn’t freedom / days come and go / rain turns to snow,” she sings, a clear sign that independence and loneliness reside close to one another. At times, maybe it's too close for comfort. 

With this burgeoning career continuing to unfold, it's exciting to see an artist with a vision as unperturbed by outside forces as Orion Sun. She continues to take notes on all the right subjects, concocting feelings that form into projects utterly free-form and devoid of sounds that are overly synonymous. While on “Sweet” we may be puffy-eyed and heartsick, there’s no real indication as to what avenue of emotion she’ll lead us down next. Wherever it is, it’ll be a worthwhile endeavor with a soul as pure as this one lighting the way. 

Watch the "Sweet" video below: