From the pile of albums set to be released by Bruce Springsteen, Twilight Hours may be the most interesting of all. At a time when musicians like Bob Dylan and Van Morrison are revelling in the classics of the American Songbook, The Boss approached and then canned a collection of traditional pop numbers. Sunday Love gives us a hint of what it would have sounded like – and it proves a rewarding step for Springsteen, though not the right choice for his sound at the time. He would hit on something similar with Letter to You, though it is a far cry from the jazz-laden grooves of Sunday Love. There is a lightness to Sunday Love that affects the song immediately. Those gentle piano notes, the beauty of everyday moments like putting on a shirt or heading out into the week, a hope for the future ahead. Monotony imposes itself in the wordplay, Springsteen finds the light of satisfying life, nonetheless.
Sunday Love is a startling piece of work. It strips Springsteen of the instrumental fervour which has defined his music for decades. Instead, we hear him put his vocals first, a rarity for The Boss, but nonetheless incredible to hear. An initially gentle song which toys with the similarity of the days, the blur of Tuesday to Friday, which means little to so many, just the humdrum of work and life on the train. But for those who have either escaped that life as Springsteen has, or those who appreciate the consistency of it and what you can do with that travelling time, there is much to enjoy with Sunday Love. What could have been a simple song of infatuation, a love which keeps the fire burning even in times of tedium, instead burns brighter. Sunday Love is, above all, a cool piece of music from one of the best around.
Monday blues and the slow crawl to the weekend feel like an old status now that working from home, and every day at that, is part of life. But Sunday Love does not have an affectionate nostalgia for the days of idle travel and forced office camaraderie, it focuses on the reasons we work. The little flair or love which graces the weekend, when not working, writing up coffee-stained thoughts on a blues-like Springsteen offering. Sunday Love takes a leaf from the book of Frank Sinatra and has The Boss feature not as an observer as he does on Born in the U.S.A., but as a protagonist affected by the motions of everyday. A slow trickle of Tracks II: The Lost Albums has dominated the last few months, but Sunday Love is the best to come from these releases.
Sunday Love features a swaying beauty which would be perfect should Springsteen find himself without The E Street Band on future tours. It lends itself not to the big band feeling but the stripped-back, singer-songwriter lighting which spotlights the artist behind these simple but suggestive words. A repetition of the Sunday love, the desire to be involved in an intimate situation, suitable for a lazy weekend, brings about an essential longing which cements the heart of this Twilight Hours piece. Songs for the late night, the type of music to be played when there are only a few lights on across the city, whichever it may be. A song as soft as this still has a strangely bold consequence hidden within, and part of that is because of Springsteen’s untapped strength as a jazz vocalist. One for the Only the Strong Survive fans.
