“Scarecrow” by AV Super Sunshine

Andy Victor, otherwise known as AV Super Sunshine, has labored for several years to create and shape a personal vision of music that scours every genre before achieving its final form. The latest representation of AV Super Sunshine’s songwriting and musical skill is the seasonal single “Scarecrow” and, though Halloween is over, there’s still considerable entertainment value lurking within this pop-infused gem.

The accompanying video for the track is the typical AV visual jewel. You can always count on AV Super Sunshine to always produce first-class promotional clips going with his new single releases. Sunshine incorporates many stock Halloween images into the clip and filters each one through his experiences to produce a familiar, yet distinctive video. The cinematography for the clip is one of its great strengths as AV’s diligence helps strengthen an already compelling video.

He subtitles the song as a “pop edit” and the music supports this. AV foregoes his usual penchant for an aggressive rock edge in favor of almost exclusive electronic backing. Sequencers, synths, and keyboards supply the dense musical underpinning but, despite the weightiness of the backing, it has a remarkably agile musicality. It engages listeners physically without ever threatening to overwhelm the song.

Sunshine has another penchant – he consistently writes from a personal point of view, mining life for his songs, without ever veering into singer/songwriter confessional territory. There is no obscurity here. Writing about his supernatural experiences and connecting them with ghosts that often haunt us within shows universality that few other songs of this ilk share. The insistent refrain of “Ghosts come out” in various contexts further reinforces his songwriting aims.

Other lyrics reflect the songwriting’s personal nature. AV Super Sunshine’s words for “Scarecrow” are not gimmicky Halloween-inspired fare but layered with surprising detail and even strong rhymes. Sunshine delivers them with personality. He never goes overboard, however, and the charisma he injects into the performance dovetails nicely into the video imagery and atmosphere.

You will not be frightened by this video. Halloween-inspired or not, it is not Super’s intent to jolt or frighten listeners with a short horror/supernatural film. Victor and his wife Philomena, however, work together well during the clip and the images he chooses to highlight are evocative without ever seeming too cliched. “Scarecrow” does not achieve its effects cheaply – Sunshine achieves  

The chorus is a definite high point. The surging qualities of the intro and verses culminate with an even greater surge as the song reaches its zenith. AV Super Sunshine applies minimum post-production effects to the performance that never threaten to overshadow the vocal and, instead, reinforce its dramatic attributes. He consistently provides the audience with a full and well-rounded presentation each time and AV Super Sunshine’s “Scarecrow” is no exception. It is a muscular and compelling pop song with genuine substance and holds up under repeated listens. It’s harder than ever before to discover such music today, but you can always trust AV Super Sunshine to go the extra mile. “Scarecrow” gives us what few others can and do in modern music.  

Mindy McCall