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It's been said...
| "...'Lately I've been calling myself a '60s-infused folk-pop singer-songwriter,' Sonya laughs. That's certainly accurate--her folk sensibilities and ear for perfect turns of phrase are evident, and the album's uptempo numbers have hooks that stay with you for days...From the buttery, upright bass that kicks off the album's first track, Aquamarine, to the cool, night-sky feel of Dance, there are moments of longing, hesitation, or looking back, but they're bridged on all sides by colors, sounds, and details from nature so vivid they're liable to drive you out of doors."
— Heather Seggel, Metroactive on Sun in Mind |
| "...Bells and Whistles is a sunny, galloping example of Hunter's gift for folk-jazz-indie synthesis, with lyrics detailing the glorious, grounding smells, sounds, and sights of a home, attended by a fluttering of bright saxophone and faint, old-fashioned background vocals...."
— Stefanie Kalem, East Bay Express on Sun in Mind |
| "Hunter -- who is ably seconded by multi-instrumental sidekick Erik Pearson -- is a beautiful singer whose lyrics bounced off her pop-hook smarts and right into the very air we were trying to breathe. I remember feeling lucky that I had this CD to listen to for the rest of my life."
— Matt Cibula, Ink 19 on Sun in Mind |
| "...Like the music itself, her voice is hard to describe (It reminds me of toasted hazelnuts.) It lies somewhere in between the edginess of Kristen Hersh and the sweet pitch of Tanya Donnelly...Sun in Mind is more thoroughly produced than her previous efforts, but the songs still feel intimate and spontaneous--gratifying instantly, then lingering deliciously in the memory."
— H.S., bitch |
| "...On her sixth album Sun in Mind, (Hunter) uses her love of jazz and her access to some of its alternatives players to infuse her folky and spacey leanings with a twist of cool."
— Denise Sullivan, Contra Costa Times |
| "Smooth intellectual pop delivered by a passionate heart with an appealing touch of luminous melancholy."
— j. poet, Contributing Editor of Pulse, on Sun in Mind |
| "...Enter Sun in Mind, Hunter's sixth release. It's a gem, and seems to incorporate all the miles she's covered... a tack sharp effort from an artist you should get to know."
— Heather Seggel, We the People |
| "Hunter possesses a pure, unornamented voice right out of the '60s folk revival, but often sounds like a '90s indie rocker - more in the lineage of Exene Cervenka than Joan Baez. In her writing she tends toward oblique melodies that could have come from Led Zeppelin III... add her unique vocal phrasing and jazz-tinged arrangements reminiscent of Tim Buckley or Fred Neil, and Hunter's understated music is the stuff of folk-pop dreams."
— Derk Richardson, Express |
| "Sonya Hunter infuses all of her music with an air of sophisticated artlessness: the portrait of a return to innocence after a few turns around the block. She has found the marrow of celtic, roots, bluegrass, country and folk; all elements seamlessly intertwine as she spins her yarns."
— Mo McFreely, Wired Planet |
| "In a slightly more indie way, she's got Lucinda Williams' plainspoken ability to knock you off your feet..."
— Dennis Harvey, Express |
| "For you old-timers who think they don't make them like Sandy Denny anymore, check out Sonya Hunter."
— Mark Keresman, Waterfront Week |
| "A singer guitarist with the voice of an angel and the delivery of a freight train."
— Ptolematic Terrascope, England |
| "Hunter makes music that is both elegant and hypnotic, waving tales of urban frustration and mixing word play with wisdom... Sonya may be one of the best-kept secrets in America."
— Hap Mansfield, Utne Reader |
| "Sonya Hunter is a regular Ms. Songbird... in her glass-smooth vocals, the personas of urban folk-diva and barstool yarn weaver are melded."
— College Music Journal |
| "Her songs fall forth like conversations casually exchanged, their strengths lie not in grand statements but in the quiet turn of a phrase, a word repeated and played with until it means a whole range of things. This is the stuff of daily life, set to tunes you'll find yourself humming under your breath."
— Ann Powers (NY Times Pop Critic) |
| "A good voice is something new under the sun. Once you meet it, your world is bigger. On this album, Sonya Hunter stakes her claim to be an old voice, old musical friend, someday ... 'Favorite Short Stories' is highly recommended, not for promise, but for what it powerfully and richly delivers... I want to hear more."
— Excerpts from Paul Williams' "The Crawdaddy! Book: |