After the triumph of 2023’s “Anarchist Gospel”, americana-punk artist Sunny War returns with “Armageddon In A Summer Dress” on 21st February 2025, via New West Records.
Its predecessor proved something of a breakthrough for Sunny War with critical accolades and appearances on many year-end best-of lists. “Anarchist Gospel”’s success also took Sunny War on the road appearing alongside Mitski, Iron & Wine, John Doe & Exene Cervenka of X, Bonnie Raitt, amongst others. Her short UK tour in the autumn of 2023 had quite an impact on those who caught the shows.
The new 11-song set was produced by Andrija Tokic (Alabama Shakes, Hurray for the Riff Raff) and features guest appearances by Valerie June, John Doe of X, Steve Ignorant (Crass), Tré Burt, Jack Lawrence (Raconteurs), Kyshona Armstrong, John James Tourville (The Deslondes), and more.
Following the release of her last record, she moved into her late father’s house in Chattanooga. She thought the place was haunted. “I spent the winter seeing things and hearing things,” she says. It turned out the house wasn’t haunted. “Something broke and I had to fix it, so I called the gas company even though I didn’t have the money. The guy discovered major gas leaks all over the house. I thought I was losing my mind, but I was just hallucinating from the gas. After I got that fixed, I never saw or heard another ghost.” “Armageddon In A Summer Dress” is rooted in the disorientation of those hallucinations. In songs that are incisive and imaginative, she ponders the act of crossing boundaries—between worlds, between musical genres, summoning the ghosts of the people she lost, the people she once was, and the people she was not allowed to be.
Sunny War’s “Armageddon In A Summer Dress” will be available across digital platforms, compact disc, and standard black vinyl, and is available for pre-order on this link.
Sunny War has shared the video for the album’s first single, ‘Walking Contradiction’, a duet with the legendary Ignorant. Recruiting Ignorant to sing on the anarcho-punk anthem was a full-circle moment for Sunny, whose first band Anus Kings was flat-out punk rock. She counts Crass among her all-time favourite bands. Sunny War wrote the song especially for him; with its blues melody, ominous organ chords, and her guitar tagging the walls of city hall, the song is a smart, scowling depiction of late-capitalist America. “He’s my hero for life. When I started listening to Crass, it changed everything about how I thought about everything.”
