Only When I Sleep

 

These Sleeping Hands

Only When I Sleep

(self-released)

London band These Sleeping Hands released their debut album Only When I Sleep a month a ago and it quickly became a favorite, but it was a surprise.  I first heard their song “Starfall” via streaming radio station DKFM (DJ Amber Crain specifically) and I really liked it.  To me, in that blind moment, it had a classic dream pop sound.  I liked it enough to briefly peruse each song on the album via their Bandcamp page.  It all sounded good, so I purchased the download.  However, once I actually took the time to give the album a close listen, it didn’t sound much like the early impression I had.  

“Starfall” is a bright, shiny, catchy pop tune, but not in the way I first believed.  It’s also heavy and dense.  The bass guitar rumbles and a thick fuzz moves the song from verse to chorus with intensity and purpose.  The vocals are buried in this mix and become more of an atmospheric and melodic element, yet it’s done in a way that feels exactly right.  I’m not sure what I first heard before in those early introductions.  Instead of the sweet candy tunes of say early Lush that I imagined, These Sleeping Hands have a lot more in common with Slow Crush without the heavy metal-isms.  I would be happy with either direction.  It’s a mystery at how much I mischaracterized them, but it goes to show how easy how easy it is to misjudge a band or artist by rushing through and not really listening. 

“Puddles” is far from a pop tune with its dark crawling sound that hints at Slowdive with its broken air compressor sound and comforting warmth.  It kind of reminds me of the peace within noise from Sonic Youth’s “Providence.”  There are three instrumental tracks here too.  The opening “Longing & Aching” is simply a wash of sound that intensifies for its minute of duration.  However, “Can’t Stop Now Kid” and “Blissful” are huge triumphs and highlights.  The best rock instrumentals have heavy doses of dramatics and dynamics to insure that we don’t miss the vocals and these two both bring those in spades.  “Can’t Stop Now Kid” highlights some amazing heavily reverbed almost bluesy e-bowed guitar passes on top of restless rises and falls of the unrelenting rhythm section, while “Blissful” comes in with an epic darkness and builds momentum as its trudging roar slowly increases in volume and density.  Both of these songs provide wonderful visuals for the mind to get lost in.

The LP’s heart lies from “Ruby Had a Mirror” (track three) to “Beyond” (track six).  “Ruby Had a Mirror” has a melancholic unchanging kind of vibe with unusual feedback howls painting an abstract journey through the song.  Then “Starfall” comes in with its soaring majesty, followed by the stellar “Can’t Stop Now Kid,” which reminds me of one of my all-time favorite rock instrumentals “Awesome Sky” by postpunk band Moving Targets, and then lastly, is “Beyond,” which might be the most shoegazey with its Labradford like haze of drone, the burbling bassline, and beautiful vocals giving the song its melodic direction.  Every song is great here.  I love the twin songs “Nighthawks” and  “Broken Hearts Club” that bookend what would be side two providing a unity to the proceedings.

Although I appreciate the brevity of these songs, many of them beg for more space.  Grander finishes.  To me, “Beyond” could go on forever, and there are other moments that feel like they end a bit abruptly.  This is a minor issue though.  When I said before that this album was not like what I imagined, it was a pleasant surprise.  I think that it has a stronger impact than what my initial impression was.  This is definitely worth one’s time and hopefully a band to follow in the future! 

(https://thesesleepinghands.bandcamp.com/album/only-when-i-sleep)