Tacoma, WA’s Champagne Sunday has built a career by shouting a message of relentless positivity from the rooftops. Balance, their new full-length recording, is both a return to form following their 2021 electro-soul Scour EP and a high point in their development as songwriters. At turns buoyant, introspective, and bittersweet, the record weaves together country-tinged ballads, celestial soul, and spacious rock & roll; above which soar Jessi Fredeen’s powerfully emotive pipes. The new album, articulate and immaculately executed, Balance stands ready to claim its rightful place in the canon of modern American music. Today Champagne Sunday is allowing listeners to have a sneak peek of the new album.

“Jared and I have never had a relationship outside the public eye. We have made a conscious effort to balance our private life with our public one but really have made an entire career of journaling our experiences into song form and sharing our whole story with our audiences. From the moment we first kissed, to the birth of our son, and the deaths of loved ones… our life has been full of antics, depression, gains, and losses, and it’s all been openly shared for 17 years. I hope people can take comfort from our story, and perhaps see their own in it, that it’s all part of this sprawling, beautiful life. It’s all in the “Balance,” says Jessi Fredeen.

In the midst of the sessions, COVID hit and everything locked down. No longer able to perform live, the band began getting more experimental in the studio, exploring more fully some darker themes and electronic elements that had always lingered in the deeper cuts of their music. While initially intended as a single record, the music began drifting in two distinct directions: one very classic Champagne Sunday, and one more experimental. The decision was made to split the album into Scour and Balance. 

“Scour reflected the situation in which it was written; in a studio, surrounded by gear, as opposed to on a stage, surrounded by people” explains Jessi. “It felt good to sink into the current album, to bask in the warmth of the instruments and the transparency of the vocals.”

The theme of the new record is, of course, balance. “In the title track we sing, ‘lose yourself to find your way’” says Jared.  “This is a motto we live by. Sometimes you have to get really lost to find out who you truly are. We need to appreciate the bad, negative, difficult, and sad, because it will ultimately lead to better versions of ourselves in the end.”

Indeed, between the sparkling happiness of Shine and the raw emotionality of Scour, we find Balance. Cautiously optimistic, the record is perfectly timed for a world slowly emerging from the shadows. Let the Fredeen’s serenade you with their eloquent portraits of the human condition, and perhaps you too can find some Balance…

Photo Courtesy: Jordan Swenson