By John Sturm
I have a confession to make. Until this week, I had never heard one note of music by Sleep Lady. I was aware of their existence. I started to follow guitarist Michael Hayden on Twitter based on who my twitter followers followed (there is too much usage of the word ‘follow’ here arrrrrrrrghhhh) and the fact that he has also written for the site (check his reviews here). But never got around to checking them out. So my apologies to Michael, Mario, Sarah, Kristy & Tony for being so lazy that I couldn't even be bothered click a link. Sorry.
But that all changed on the 07/01/14. Sleep Lady released a new track entitled Central Valley. I’d seen a few tweets referring to the new music so decided it was about time that I actually listened to them. Now, I don’t know what was going on in my mind at that point in time. It was a regular Tuesday morning in work for me. But when I hit play 18 minutes and 20 seconds later, I was changed. I had heard something that was…. monumental. It took me on a journey that I was not expecting. I must have looked rather strange sat at my desk with that dumbstruck look on my face. This song had connected with me in a way I would never have imagined.
Since then I have listened to it a couple of times. And it’s like one of the Dungeons & Dragons 20-side die, no matter how many times you play it (or roll it, in this metaphor’s instance) it displays a different face. So what I decided to do was to play the track and write my thoughts as I went along. It was almost stream of consciousness. Reading it back, I could see that the song was creating images of waves, the sea, cliffs and rocks. Of storms and clouds and lightning and thunder. None of this is too surprising as I used to live in Whitley Bay and could see the North Sea literally from the end of my street. Like some of you (hopefully), I equate the sea with life; with it's trials and tribulations and it's constant changing shape and form and the challenges of navigating it without injury (physical and mental).
Some how, Sleep Lady have managed to tap into that part of me and create a musical landscape which perfectly matches my sea/life metaphor. It's almost like they went into my brain and used that as a blueprint.
Anyway. Enough of this. Have a listen to the track and then read my piece (or vice versa if you like) and let me know in the comments box what YOU think. What journey this magnificent piece of art took you on.
00:00 - 00:52
Gentle washes of strings and keyboards slide across some drum machine sounding beats. Like a heart beat in the distance.
00:53 - 01:32
A guitar figure arrives pickings melancholic notes from the ether. There is a wistful nature to the sounds. A thoughtfulness. Almost like a question...
01:33 - 02:48
Feedback from the right heralds the entrance of the drums. There is an ominous feel to this. Like storm clouds gathering on the skyline. Layers build and swirl. Rising until....
02:48 - 03:05
Everything falls away leaving some percussive hits when....
03:06 - 04:19
Crashing waves of heaviness heave into view. The black clouds have arrived.....a guitar picks out a melody that is reminiscent of rain so light yet insistent.
04:29 - 07:34
Suddenly everything is still. A Twin Peaks-esque passage shimmers into existence. The guitar melody is so mournful, yearning for release. More guitars appear picking out higher notes and harmonies guiding us towards a resolution it would seem....
07:35 - 09:59
But without warning the melody and sound becomes heavy. There is no resolution here. Like lightning overhead it jars you awake and stuns you into silence.
A keyboard repeats an earlier guitar melody adding an ethereal atmosphere. It's unnerving. Like the sound of fairground music in the distance, woozy and vaguely threatening. Again, there is a sense of building up to something.....some sort of enlightenment....some sort of revelation. Chords swing back and forth, the storm rages dragging us towards.....
10:00 - 11:39
Distortion. Fuzz. Confusion. Noise. Sporadic drums batter the senses. Keyboards and guitars swirl in waves. Back and forth we're pushed...the storm is gathering pace and strength, drawing us in, embracing us in its dark arms.
More noise, more insistent the snare building and building until....
11:40 - 14:29
We're pummelled with heaviness. Like waves breaking on rocks and crashing into cliff faces. The pace is funereal. Guitars squeal and shift. Yet..... there is still melody, there is still hopefulness that we will emerge from this.
14:30 - 18:20
And we do... it the sweetest of releases. The storm has broken. From the heaviest, darkest depths we have emerged and slipped into an almost dreamlike state. Drums are processed and delicate. Stability has returned to us. Guitars begin to lead the way towards the light, offering hope and warmth.
It is the shaft of sunlight breaking the black clouds. A light that warms, that reassures..... that gives hope and new life.
As the melody becomes a bit sour, almost discordant, we're reminded that the storm has passd but it is still only just behind us.... but then.... serenity returns.
And then..... we drift away into the ether.
What’s left is……..
