J.E. Sunde

Minnesota singer/songwriter J.E. Sunde, born Jonathan Edward Sunde on January 4, 1986, follows in a long line of folk-based chroniclers of the human heart like Paul Simon and Leonard Cohen. He broke into the music business as one-half of the band The Daredevil Christopher Wright alongside his brother, Jason. They released a pair of modern folk albums before J.E. went solo with 2014’s Shapes That Kiss the Face of God. The album revealed his debt to other unconventional songwriters such as Cohen, as well as an emotional intensity like that of Nina Simone. His sophomore solo effort, 2017’s Now I Feel Adored stepped back from the more obtuse and ornate lyrics of his debut in order to tell more direct, though less lighthearted, stories. In 2020 he self-released a pair of new singles, “Sunset Strip” and the haunting “I Don’t Care to Dance”, a portrait of a man afraid his feelings of love will not be returned. © ©Copyright Music Story Steve Woods 2020