Sonny Ism today shares the release of his fourth album, Dad Zone, out now via his own imprint Northern Underground Records. LISTEN HERE.

Signifying a new sonic chapter for Sonny Ism, Dad Zone houses a collection of tracks that chronicle his own experience of new fatherhood, uncertainty, loss and cross-continent relationships. Powered by Sonny Ism’s own world, Dad Zone, nimbly genre hops to tie together his ear for crystal clear production with a laid-back stream of composition.

Speaking to the record, Sonny Ism shares “It’s a fairly big timestamp for me. I always write music with the future in mind. What will my kids think when they listen back. I hope there are some nice hidden messages there for them to discover and concepts too that maybe they might have questions about later on in life. If someone has followed my releases since 2019, they’ll be able to hear that the style has development and movement that could be characterized as impatient. I’m never really hanging around on a particular sound / genre for too long before I am inspired to change tact and try something new with Sonny Ism. I made a more concerted effort on this record to sing in my high head / falsetto voice like in my previous band Gypsy & The Cat, also using outright songwriting structures and abandoning more straight up dance structures.”

A testament to Sonny Ism’s artistic prowess, Dad Zone rummages deep underground and rifles through glistening psychedelic melodies and rich electronic soundscapes. Indulging in contemporary electronica akin to Skeleten and moving with the same nostalgia and melancholy of The Durutti Column, Sonny Ism affirms his dual role as both a songwriter and a producer, effortlessly balancing creative experimentation across the seven tracks. The previously released ‘Song for Julia’, ‘Shadows’ and ‘Daggry ft. DJ Popup’ today join four brand new releases, each, an individual considered lyrical sentiment. We’re introduced to ‘Via Verona’, which details the pivot toward focusing attention on fatherhood, the synth-heavy “tragic love song” ‘Bamboo Nights’, the deep-house, jam-style ‘An Ocean Apart’, and ‘IRL’, which recounts the struggle of maintaining relationships while moving countries.

Sonny Ism, the musical alter ego of Xavier Bacash, has been a stalwart in the Australian underground for the past decade, navigating a diverse range of musical realms including his position as one half of psychedelic pop duo Gypsy & the Cat. Having relocated to Copenhagen and now residing back in his hometown of Naarm / Melbourne, Bacash fuses soundscapes from both Scandinavia and Australia based from his experience immersed in the local Danish music scene, a scene that brought the Sonny Ism project to life.

Sonny Ism has not only carved a sonic niche for himself but has also become the face of his own label, Northern Underground Records. The label traverses a broad sonic spectrum of Danish stylistic conventions, seamlessly oscillating between synth-pop and off-kilter house, leaving listeners eager to unravel more with each encounter. Bacash’s success with previous records such as Clock Without Hands, Island Impressions, and Union Integration of the Shadow has positioned Sonny Ism as a prominent figure in the DIY pop landscape, garnering a fanbase across platforms like triple j Unearthed, NTS Radio, FBi Radio, 3RRR, PBS FM, BBC Radio 6, and XLR8R, among others.