Put quite simply, this is one of my favorite choruses in recent memory. It just sneaks up on you and doesn't let you go. Sean Waters & the Sunrise Genius is the latest iteration from this roots-friendly songwriter, who performed with a number of different Colorado-based bands before catching his first industry break in 2019 after his demos intrigued LA-based producer Justin Andres, the live music director for Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer Eric Burdon & the Animals.
Waters flew to LA to record "Easy Graces," which was well-received by critics and set the foundation for his subsequent work via an artist development deal with Syncopate Media.
For his most recent release "Cigarettes and Daydreams," Waters reconnects with his love of alternative folk-rock, recorded with his friends in northern Colorado and Southern California. This is the chorus that I find so enticing:
Seeing you again is like stumbling awake
Back into the bottom of the curious fates
Tube-top sneakers and barley wine
Living through the dreams I remember you by
When I'm alone, again, feeling in my room
Turn out the lights and you lay
Like a shadow on my heart
"Cigarettes and Daydreams" captures the ineffable connection between nostalgia, romance, and the beautiful mysteries of life. With an organic, terrestrial spirituality that reminds me a bit of Idlewild, Waters continues to stoke the flames of his perpetual resurrection with appearances at the Colorado Showcase at SXSW, The Colorado Brewers' Festival, First Night Fest, Fortoberfest, and other festivals across Colorado's front range. I've been playing this song a lot on KSKQ, and will continue to do so.
