On Sunday is guitarist Mark Arroyo’s most intimate statement yet. Stripped to only his own minimal accompaniment, the new EP is a heartfelt four-song set that showcases his refined lyrical touch alongside a gift for mining a valley of emotion from deceptively simple compositions.

Arroyo’s second offering as Distracted Circuits, a solo sidebar to his ensemble work with the Mark Arroyo Trio, continues the project’s mission as a thoughtful exploration of man and machine – or perhaps man and himself. Compared to Isolation Theory, an album intended to “translate the unspoken into pulses, echoes, and walls of reverb-drenched arpeggios” that captured the pervasive loneliness of peak COVID-era separation, On Sunday keeps the electronics to a minimum. In doing so, Arroyo’s musical meditations on separation, disconnection, and uncertainty carry an intimate emotive clarity that can almost feel intrusive due to their vulnerability.

The eponymous opener is a faithful establishing shot, outlining On Sunday’s sparse yet intentional layering and effects. “Pulled in Different Directions” struggles to take off, hinting at an artist searching for the safety to express himself. The composition gains momentum but progression seems to stall out, never earning the denouement or closure his slightly overdriven pleas seem to be asking for. In such uncertainty, acceptance is the only solution.

“We Haven’t Met” (formerly “I Don’t Know You Yet”) evokes the mix of wonder and anxiety that accompanies new potential connection. Arroyo’s strumming and intermittent melodies are accompanied by a low register vamp, emulating the heavy heartbeat of apprehension. While still connected to the EP’s fabric of tension and uncertainty, the track carries the most hopeful variation of the theme. “Slowly in Black” closes the project with simmering grief. Compared to its previous take on Isolation Theory, Arroyo’s reverb-dipped strings, now front and center in the mix, bring a greater weight to his playing, a searching call. A slight electronic touch creates grating tension. It’s the most intimate composition of this set, with Arroyo sharing the song is akin to him talking to ghosts. He revisits the composition often, playing it to communicate with family members who have passed on.

Impressionistic yet highly emotive, On Sunday shares the deep contemplation of an artist caught in conversation with oneself. Rather than using studio effects for virtuoso’s sake, Arroyo’s minimal layers do enough to set the scene and add dramatic tension, then let the listener sit with the same nagging uncertainty that spawned these creations.

Though previously most comfortable in an ensemble setting, where group interaction could organically guide the molding of compositions quite differently from one performance to the next, Arroyo’s recent work with Distracted Circuits reminds listeners there’s always been a deft compositional mind guiding his group’s liberal live re-interpretations of covers and originals.

-Brandon Roos

"This music is the sound of change, reflection, hope, confusion, and is ultimately an expression of love and the feeling of being pulled in different directions. Thank you so much for listening."

-Distracted Circuits