BIO
“Immediately alluring, offering an inviting closeness in the whisper and croon of his honest lyrics.” - NPR
“Incredibly well-crafted songs with a vocal that reminds me of...” – USA Today
Currently based in Brooklyn NY, Setting Sun has released 4 records and one EP thus far. They've toured the USA numerous times since 2003 and Europe four times with their fifth coming in April 2012. Main writer Gary Levitt’s songs have appeared in numerous television shows, films and commercials.
The title to Setting Sun’s fourth album, Fantasurreal, is the perfect made-up combination of two words to capture the spirit and sound of the record. Largely the work of one man, Gary Levitt, Setting Sun creates a fantastical mix of whimsy and brightly hued pop, matched to a surreal lyrical sensibility that’s the product of either a vivid imagination or some good drugs. Cuts like the leadoff song “Driving” and the six-minute paean to sustained adolescence, “Don’t Grow Up,” recall Grandaddy in their mutations of organic instrumentation.
When not on the road, Gary is at home in the studio (Young Love Studio) where he records himself and other artists. A common observation in the music of Setting Sun is the somber lyrics layered over upbeat sounding songs. Trumpet lines blare optimistic over a melancholy verse. String lines grace softly over pounding driving drums. This dichotomy is one of the elements making Levitt's music stand out from the lot, a sense of optimism beautifully cohabits with moody melancholy.
As usual Gary produces, records and plays most of the instruments with help from friends Lawrence Roper (back vox), Erica Quitzow from Quitzow (strings, back vox) and Jennifer Turner of Here We Go Magic.The music ranges from traditional rock instrumentation to exotic hallucinatory synth patches, strings, horns and lush orchestral sounds all inspired by classic songs with contagious melodies,
"Dramatic and poignant! Unobtrusively, the band mixes synth experimentalism in with its folky, string-band sound to great effect." - NPR
"Setting Sun create an Arcade Fire urgency, creating sweeping orchestrations, driving rhythms. delicate, hushed vocals and well-crafted pop songs". - Pop Matters
On a superficial level, the listener might assume this is an album brimming with morose lyrics, but the songs feel infectiously hopeful without being too sweet - Feminist Review
"Isolation," from 2005's Math and Magic, brought together the dramatic delivery with a set of lyrics spilling out with a poetic skill rarely heard in any style of music. - Pittsburgh City Paper
Setting Sun's low-key charisma creates a mood that's hard to ignore. Even songs that may sound happy on the surface are shot through with dark splinters and devastating insights.- East Bay Express
"It kind of made me feel like I was 15 again and listening to a new Sub Pop band." - Impact Press
"Spacey, thoughtful, and -- dare I say it -- pretty." - Space City Rock
"Setting Sun is good, and good for you." - News Observer (NC)
"Like a never-ending treasure hunt. Each song evolves to some completely different end without losing its original idea." - Boise Weekly
"With his voice a biting whisper and guitar work that's quietly emphatic and shrewd as it picks its way around the fretboard, Setting Sun's Gary Levitt has more than a little Elliott Smith in him. We're talking old Elliott Smith here, i.e., the sad, intimate and cloudy days of Roman Candle." - Willamette Weekly (Portland)
"Maybe he’s just an independent thinker who’s onto something." - Las Cruces Pulse
