Sunflower Bean defy their tender years on the wistful and elegant "Easier Said"

Having cut their teeth on the underground New York scene, genre-spanning three piece Sunflower Bean have found their reputation undergo a very steady ascent over the last year or so. Now able to boast support slots for the likes of The Vaccines, DIIV, Best Coast and Wolf Alice, the band are now looking forward to the release of their debut album. For now, however, they have decided to treat us to ‘'Easier Said'’ to ease the wait for the album release. And, boy, does it do the job.

Leaving the guttural guitars and menacing aesthetic of previous single '‘Wall Watcher’' behind them, Sunflower Bean have instead picked up the shimmering melodies the likes of Smith Westerns and Eternal Summers have carved their names from. There is also a strong semblance to latter day jangly-indie forebears The Smiths, a dynamic alluded to previously by the band via their demo release a couple of year ago for their single "2013".

Vocally, Julia Cumming’s performance is suitably light, covering for a set of lyrics which, much alike the band itself, balance carefully a sense of youth (none of them are over 21) in their self-deprecation and refreshing insights with a strong degree of maturity. Typified by lines such as "you're getting old / so act your age / it isn't fun / to make the same mistakes,” it is an engrossing outing, and proves itself nigh-on impossible not to indulge in.

Of the track, Sunflower Bean are noted by Stereogum as stating: "'Easier Said’ is a song about a couple of things – us and the people around us getting older, and the repetitions and circles that we find ourselves in. Things that are easier to feel and harder to describe."

Tied together by Nick Kivlen's intricate guitar playing and Jacob Faber's drums, "Easier Said" is a wistful and elegant release by a band tipped by many for big things in 2016.

Human Ceremony is out 5 February via Fat Possum.