Orion Sun has seemed to be favored by streaming services’ algorithms, making her popular for a select few songs. However, the multi-genre-but-mostly-alternative-R&B artist’s full projects have genuine weight and staying power to them. This is further proven with Orion Sun’s eponymous 2024 project “Orion,” which sounds pleasant, but also has deeper themes of how heartbreak can make somebody feel depressed and how unhealthy coping mechanisms are used to deal with the pain.
The album begins with a field recording soundscape of what seems to be somebody walking in the woods or a forest while humming. The instrumentation of a piano, a stringed instrument, programmed drums and electronic sound effects are added in later with Sun’s vocals accompanying them. “Oh, what a dream it was, when I was in love,” Sun remarks. Although it sounds optimistic and joyous, this lyric is a foreboding message for the rest of the album as loving is past tense for Sun.
The lead single, “Already Gone,” is the next track. A mellow and comforting electronic synth greets the audience with an electric guitar. Due to her stellar and heart-wrenching vocal and lyrical performance, it’s almost impossible to not register Sun’s lyrics of longing for love, not having a lover to confide in and being so languidly depressed that it’s hard to even leave her room. “Going outside feels like going off to war, and I spend most of my time now just trying to get you off my mind somehow,” Sun sings. “Already Gone” is truly the main highlight of the album. It’s like a depressed friend who either saddens you when you listen to their story or comforts you because you feel a similar way. “It still feels hard to imagine life without you,” Sun reflects at the end of the song.
“Mary Jane,” with its groovy song structure, introduces a new lover to this album’s narrative: marijuana. “Take this pain away,” Sun pleads in the song to Mary Jane (a common euphemism for marijuana). “I want to be good, you know. Live, not just survive the cold,” Sun elaborates. It’s hard to be “good” when human beings have their vices, needs and desires. Balancing it all can be difficult, and some resort to drug usage in order to cope with their negative feelings.
“Sweet” begins with Sun comparing her love obsession with nicotine addiction. She then adds, “Just wanted love; that’s all I really need. There’s a hole in the sun, emptiness isn’t freedom.” The imagery of a hole being in the sun, this unobtainable ball of plasma in the sky that we depend on for survival, is striking. It’s like having someone you depend on become unreachable but still influencing you, sticking for the rest of your life. However, despite our external and internal injuries, life goes on. It’s okay to feel bitter about things, but people have to move on eventually no matter how unfortunate things are. Still, Sun yearns for this failed love, claiming “it could be so, so sweet.”
“Take My Eyes” is a bit similar to a ballad sonically, with only a guitar and later a string ensemble. But instead of expressing love, it’s expressing a longing for love. “Take my eyes and show me what you like,” Sun pleads, seemingly trying to appeal to her ex-lover.
“Twilight Zone” is a fantastic track, having neo-psychedelic instrumentation, and even features Sun rapping. Her flow and intonation when rapping is reminiscent of rapper Baby Keem.
“If I Never See You Again,” with its chill drums and synth chords, sounds like sung poetry with how it’s structured and themed around the title of the song. Sun recalls a woman telling her to look up at the sky to talk to God, but she just drinks wine while referencing how Jesus Christ from the Bible can turn water into wine, as well as the Communion scene. She remarks on religion, that “even if it’s wrong, what a sweet delusion, fixed illusions.”
“Rather Be” could have been an excellent closer to “Orion,” mixing solemn reflection with optimism and healing. The instrumentation is heavy, especially the guitars. They mix well with the thumping kick drum.
“Don’t Leave Without Me” and “Gannie” serve as a more realistic epilogue to the album, being mellow but very much not hollow. “Rainbows come after the rainstorm, but I’m impatient,” she sings on “Don’t Leave Without Me.” “Gannie” is dedicated to Sun’s grandma and her wisdom, finding solace in her and building relationships with people other than those she romantically loves.
“Orion” is a very intimate and human album. Losing a romantic relationship is so painful, but it’s still possible to heal from it. Sun doesn’t hide the maladaptive coping mechanisms she indulged in, but she also doesn’t hide any other part of her healing journey.
4/5