Solar Eyes are a Birmingham psych-indie duo, Glenn Smyth and Sebastian Maynard Francis, and their latest single is Different Cloud, partly recorded in Barcelona.
The press release reaches for Spiritualized and XTRMNTR-era Primal Scream as reference points, with a nod to Girls' Hellhole Ratrace for the late-summer feel, though it stops short of saying it sounds just like any of them. It's a song that knows how to build a mood and then sit comfortably inside it – and the atmosphere feels lived-in rather than manufactured, which makes it a lot more convincing.
Formed in 2021, Smyth and Maynard Francis have picked up support from Steve Lamacq on 6 Music and John Kennedy on Radio X, plus write-ups from The Observer, Q and Louder Than War, and their music has turned up on Match of the Day and Football Focus. Their self-titled debut album came out on Fierce Panda in 2024, produced by Tom Ford, and they followed it with the 12 track Live Freaky! Die Freaky! in 2025, also on Fierce Panda.
Different Cloud is out now on streaming, released independently through AWAL/Sleeping Sun.