Quality Living – Sumac Red (2026)
For the past 10 years, the New Jersey band Quality Living has been creating its unique brand of rock and roll, releasing several singles, two albums, and an EP. If there is a lo-fi underbelly to the 1970s, that’s probably where you’ll find Quality Living. Other terms get thrown around in reference to the band, but to this reviewer’s ear, they sound indelibly linked to that decade. And now, Quality Living is gearing up for its new album, Glacier, with the release of its first single, ‘Sumac Red’.
The last major release from the band was 2024’s EP Aggro Crag, which found them in a place of transition. The first two tunes still featured Harrison Bieth on saxophone, who was no longer with the band at the time of Aggro Crag’s release. ‘Sumac Red’ carries on with the band’s hornless sound, which is mildly disappointing. Incorporating the saxophone gave Quality Living a unique tone palette and another touch point to the latent soul in their groove. But they retain the essence of their personality as a band.
On ‘Sumac Red’, guitars anchor their harmonically dense sound with help from vocal harmonies and synths. A pedal steel guitar, courtesy of Joe Palmosino, appears out of nowhere on the second verse with such clarity that you finish the song convinced that it was always meant to be there.
In its lyrical progression, ‘Sumac Red’ has less of a verse/chorus structure than the feel of scenes that follow spring, with “[d]appled sun and hyacinths and the ice cream man,” a motel room on the seashore (which is summer, apparently), and fall with “[b]laze maple dogwood and sumac red as far as eyes can see.” An odd sort of commentary follows these sections with statements like, “When it’s water of nutrition I need/ My body has a way of gettin those things back to me.” What else can you say about a guy who moves at the speed of a glacier?
‘Sumac Red’ is probably one of Quality Living’s densest creations. That’s not a bad thing, but it might not win you over on the first listen. Connecting with the musical whimsy in the band and Darrel Norrell’s voice will grant you access to multiple hearings and probably whet your appetite for more to come.
Find out more about Quality Living on their Instagram, YouTube, Bandcamp and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
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