Manchester-born, Los Angeles-based artist, Bipolar Sunshine, returns with his eagerly anticipated new single “Gone”.

Raised by Jamaican parents, Adio Marchant, aka Bipolar Sunshine, grew up surrounded by a broad spectrum of musical potential. Introduced to everything from The Carpenters to lovers’ rock reggae by his mother, Marchant’s father would also lend a musical hand, playing the drums and instilling a sharp sense of timing in his son. Being exposed to such an upbringing, partnered with Manchester’s ever-evolving musical backdrop, Marchant was able to provide his own take on boundary-pushing, politically fuelled music.

 

Marchant found huge success and gained many fans when he featured on DJ Snake’s 2015 certified triple platinum record “Middle”, which he also co-wrote and co-produced. Fast forward a few years and off the back of recent collaborations with Surf Mesa, San Holo, MILCK and BabyJake, Bipolar Sunshine makes a resounding return with his new single “Gone”. The track marks his first solo release since his pop-infectious 2017 single “Major Love”.

With its mysterious, swirling instrumentations, husky vocals, and deep, powerful melodies, “Gone” lays the foundations for a new era, whilst commenting on the struggles of love and the power it holds. The single marks Marchant’s first release under his new independent Australian label home, NOiZE Recordings; a new joint venture label between Sony Music Australia and songwriter/producer Jarrad Rogers. “Gone” is also accompanied by a highly cinematic and emotive music video, directed by Cole Daly of Actual Objects.

 

Notion spoke with Bipolar Sunshine to discuss how he has found new beginnings, how the new single explores duality, and much more.

After spending a few years sharing collaborative projects, is there a sense of a new beginning and reinvigoration now that you’re back with a solo release?

100%, I do feel a sense of reinvigoration from working on my solo project and beginning to release it to the world. I’m excited for people to see me for who I am completely rather than taking me in small pieces as happens in shared projects. It’s been incredible working with different artists, and each collaboration has helped me reach a certain place. But, in order to reach my highest, people need to hear a lot more of my solo music. And now is the time, because I have so much music to share.
How do the challenges you face differ between group and solo projects? Is it daunting or liberating when you have more creative control?
It is way more liberating to be part of a project that builds from nothing to 100, and to consider it from all angles. You give yourself the paints and the paintbrushes, and now you have a canvas to create so much more than music: content, videos, sounds, marketing, and merchandise. 
There was a period where you were an independent artist. What made you take the decision of signing to a new label?
I have always gravitated to people who understood and connected with my vision. From the first session with Jarrad at Noize Records, I realized he was someone who could see it from my point of view and to a serious degree…which made it worth sharing the rest of the music and my ideas. It’s about finding and working with people that I can connect with and share the vision, rather than thinking about taking a big major deal or sticking independent. So, I took it from the basis of someone who saw my vision, and then we made everything else work from there.

Can you shed some light on how “Gone” acts as a commentary on the different sides of love and how it can be such a powerful thing?

“Gone” for me is about that last second before a person or a thing is about to leave your life, and you don’t want that to happen, but you also may not be in full control of it. In those moments, you can feel yourself losing control over your senses, and realize that you’ve got to let that person know how much they mean to you. 
What’s the concept behind the accompanying music video?
The concept is me breaking out of, what I may class as, my old self into my new self. As we see this piece as the beginning piece of something greater, you can see me go through some sort of physical change – a kind of metamorphosis, which sets the stage for what you’re about to see in the second video that we have coming. This is just the first chapter of a story about what it feels like to be human in this new world that we’re living in where the tech world has engulfed itself into our everyday lives. So, having this type of mixture of real and this AI world (that Actual Objects have created) was the way forward for this first piece. 
How did Cole Daly aid in bringing your vision to life and elevate the song?
Well, working with Cole Daly felt like when two visionaries link up and expand something 10 times beyond just one person’s thoughts and natural scope. The outcome is highly stunning – it’s dark, coarse, but powerful. Once I gave him the metaphor and the concept, his whole team was able to take it to the next level. I feel like they’re visionaries beyond our time…and being able to work with people who can see the world beyond what is naturally see right in front of them, pushes me forward. So, working with someone like Cole Daly only helped me elevate my game, and I’m gassed to be working with him and the team at Actual Objects.
Going back to your roots, how significant are your family and the city of Manchester in your musical journey and the way in which they moulded you?
I wouldn’t be where I am if it wasn’t for my upbringing in Manchester. That place holds sentimental value and I think about it every single day.  Even my name “Bipolar Sunshine” sprung from being out in Manchester and the weather being completely flippin’…it felt like the perfect metaphor for it. I understand that connecting with family and friends is a big part of the journey and I’m here to tell my stories from two different sides of the pond. So now I can have this reflection of my time in the UK after being in the US, and I’m trying to tell a story that the whole world can understand. I feel like at this particular moment in time, given all the circumstances that we see in front of us, we’re all asking the same type of questions and we’re all having the same feelings. I feel like this project is coming out at the right time because I’m trying to hone in on these feelings of being human, like empathy, love, and all these other emotions. Manchester is home. It’s where I began questioning the things… it molded how I view the world.
What influenced your decision to spend some time in LA and how has the move taken your music to the next level?
Being out in the US, I get to see a completely new perspective of the mixing of different cultures and have different conversations.  The level of people I have worked with in the US is incredible. There are some incredible people in Manchester alone, and also some incredible people in England, but I felt like I needed a little change for me to reach that next thing I wanted to create. So, moving to the US opened up my mind and helped me realize the things that I thought were beautiful about living in the UK, and draw those things out and talk about them as much as possible. I knew that this project was a chance for me to sample a new life and to bridge the gap between my different lives through a conversation that talks to both; I feel like I really had to go live it for a second.
You’re someone who is constantly looking to evolve their sound. How have the events of the past year influenced you as a Black artist and where you’re looking to take your artistry going forward?
Well, I’ve always believed “art is art” and if you can create something that goes beyond your racial recognition it can speak volumes to the world. If I can create something that feels and has that notion of living in America, that connects all these walls together, people can see that I’m not just speaking to my people, but to everybody. When you boil it down to what needs to be said, and take away all the jargon and extra bits, the message is pretty simple. I believe we’re supposed to love, show empathy, and try and be as good a person as you can be. I love to talk about some of the bad things and some of the good things in this life because there’s no point pretending it’s all jolly, when it isn’t – when there’s all types of madness going on in the world every single day. So for me, I’m trying to be someone that–when you see me–you can not only recognize that I’m a black man, but also see that the message I’m trying to come with is of power, positivity, and also from looking at the point from the most high—to try and shed light on some issues but do it in such a manner that my message is super clear.
What else are you hoping to share and achieve in this second half of 2021?
I’m definitely going to deliver a full project. I’ve got the name for it, it’s all set. I’ve been coming at this as a full project and I think from there, that’s the point when people can really choose to judge me or not. I got to work with some of the sickest producers, putting the best things together and I’m madly excited about that.

Watch the "Gone" music video below:

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