London-based band Whitelands release their second album Sunlight Echoes on January 30, 2026. It builds on 2024’s Night-bound Eyes Are Blind To The Day – the elemental debut that won them fans from Slowdive to David Jonsson – with a more expansive sound that takes them out of the shoegaze shadows to somewhere bigger, better and brighter.
This is a story of a young band on the rise; of musical and spiritual growth. Since the release of their debut, Whitelands have encountered – and overcome – various personal and professional struggles. Some of them are sadly relatable, born out of life’s many unwelcome challenges, others more specific to the harsh realities of making a living as a band in the 2020s. Never has such a combination sounded so beautiful, triumphant and life-affirming as on the ten tracks that make up Sunlight Echoes. The record is testament to the healing power of awesome music.
With maturity comes a new-found confidence, so not only are there stunning melodies everywhere, but Etienne’s vocals are front and centre throughout.
The first half of the album has an almost Britpop breeziness, that belies the serious subject matter that inspired the songs. Opener and previous single ‘Heat Of The Summer’ continues where their debut left off with ‘Now Here’s The Weather’, but the unexpected forecast is a pop earworm equally inspired by Luigi Mangione and Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing.
It’s followed by ‘Songbird (Forever)’, a string-laden slice of breathless beauty. The short and sweet ‘Shibuya Crossing’ leads into ‘Glance’. The first single proper from the record depicts a what-might-have-been scenario with someone Etienne met at a party. This all too familiar experience of unrequited love is elevated to the sublime, inspired by the work of Wong Kar-wai and C.S. Lewis. The Emma Anderson featuring ‘Sparklebaby’, meanwhile, is an ode to the band themselves, and the unbreakable bond between them.
‘Blankspace’ deals with death and mortality head on, while the incredible ‘I Am No God, An Effigy’ is all about loneliness, self-love and perseverance.
‘Dark Horse’ grapples with the genocide in Gaza, while ‘Mirrors’ reveals the influence of emo and hardcore bands such as High-Vis, before the sun comes up on ‘Golden Daze’, which ends the album on a beautiful and hopeful note.
Just like the sea always being there when you look out to the horizon, ebbing and flowing beneath the sun and moon, ‘Sunlight Echoes’ has staying power and is a poetic, melodic statement of intent from this potent and formidable band. Whitelands have fought back and triumphed in the face of adversity: long may they continue to send their beautiful music out into the world.
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