Amanda Sum performs new EP for the first time in suite-release concert at The Cultch, July 4
does it make me naive if i’ve never been part of something where i’ve meant more to them than they did to me? compiles 18 short movements in ode to a failing love life
Amanda Sum. Photo by Lula-Belle Jedynak
The Cultch presents Amanda Sum: A Suite Release at the Historic Theatre on July 4 at 8 pm
AMANDA SUM IS A multidisciplinary artist in the truest sense—to name just a few of her recent accomplishments, she has performed in four seasons of East Van Panto theatre productions, crafted a paper pop-up book by hand for each audience member seeing her show New Age Attitudes: Live in Concert, and copresented the experimental climate-change opera installation Once She Dries at the SMUSH Gallery in New Jersey.
Now, Sum is leaning into her passion for music with a brand-new EP, her first release since her debut album New Age Attitudes came out in 2022.
Provokingly titled does it make me naive if i’ve never been part of something where i’ve meant more to them than they did to me?, the EP is effectively a suite made up of 18 short movements, each ranging in length from only 13 seconds (“getting hurt”) to just under two minutes (“it’s kinda funny”).
Written entirely by Sum, the release candidly documents the ins and outs of a failing love life, with each track flowing seamlessly into the next. It is coproduced by Sum and Mary Ancheta, engineered and mixed by Erik Nielsen, and mastered by Elisa Pangsaeng.
The suite was released for listening on June 27. Sum will perform all of the tracks for the first time in an upcoming record-release concert at The Cultch on July 4, accompanied by her band: Ancheta on synth and piano, drummer Kate Johnson, bassist Ginger Chen Pimentel, cellist Peggy Lee, and violinist Tegan Wahlgren.
A first single from the EP, “first date face/sex with an ex”, was released in May along with a music video directed and choreographed by Sum (see below). She performs in the video alongside dancers Jade Chong and Juolin Lee. It’s a taste of what’s to come, as Sum will be debuting another film accompaniment to the project at the concert.
Vancouver audiences will also be able to catch Sum later this week when she performs at the Khatsahlano Street Party on July 6; she’ll be playing at 5 pm on the Maple Stage, which is copresented with the Vancouver Folk Music Festival. 
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