After five (long) years, Sunny & Gabe are ready to make noise again, with their new album Peace of Cake. The duo, comprised of producer Gabe Niles and vocalist Sunny, hails from Virginia—specifically, the region covered by the 757 area code. (It's worth nothing that something must be in the water there: Pharrell, Timbaland, and Missy Elliott all hail from the same area.)
Sunny & Gabe's last offering was 2013's Free Candy, which introduced listeners to their unrestrained, overflowing, genre-less musical approach. They then appeared on fellow 757 native DRAM's first release, #1EpicSummer, and again on the re-release, #1Epic EP. The Gabe-produced and insanely popular "Cha Cha" appeared on both iterations, but it was the latter that featured "I Luv It," a song that closed out DRAM's project with a buoyant and bright final note. It accurately reflected the energy that Sunny & Gabe bring to every body of work they produce, including Peace of Cake. Per the musicians themselves, they aim to bring happiness to their listeners.
"It’s meant to be an indulgent experience," Sunny told Complex. "Nobody should have to feel guilty for having fun or having feelings or being themselves. The biggest goal we have with all of this is to bring people together."
Gabe further explained the goal of this project by diving into the cake metaphor. "Cakes are like little baked vehicles of love, tranquility, and happiness and the world sometimes shuns us from indulging in too much of them," he said. "Who seriously eats cake for any other reason other than to enjoy it? The biggest purpose is to appease that appetite for peace."
On Peace of Cake, Sunny flits and frolics through Gabe's unpredictable production, as deftly as she did half a decade ago. The result is a project that runs the gamut of both feelings emoted and styles attempted. Throughout the tape, Gabe incorporates sounds we've heard before, like New Orleans bounce on "Tropic of Romance" and drums reminiscent of Lumidee's "Uh Oh" on "Remix to Signals."
The standout track is "Last December," a sprawling, 10-minute song featuring DRAM. It's Sunny & Gabe doing what they do best: taking their time to explore every direction they could possibly take on a record.
Stream Peace of Cake below.
