Wintersleep - Untitled (February 15, 2005)

There has been a lot of fuss around the recent releases by artists like Arctic Monkeys, Modest Mouse, Florence + the Machine and such. Basically, that's all I've been hearning about in the last couple of months and I was literally bombed by all the new songs, changes of sound and image, debutes (...) . Therefore I decided to go back to 2005 and reminisce the Wintersleep's untitled album. Summer's ending in a couple of weeks, and soon it will be time to dig out our autumn coats, scarves and mittens and prepare for "dark" evenings with a mug of hot tea or cocoa (don't you just love it? :)). But to fully get the atmosphere of what I'm talking about you, of course, need the right tunes. And that's when turning on Wintersleep is essential!

The four-piece indie rock band came to life in 2001 in the Canadian city of Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia (so much info in one sentence!) and the album I'd love to tell you about was released 4 years later on 15 February. I'm not going to ramble on about their other releases, lables and band members, not to bore you to death.Ok, what's so special about the CD? I found a quote that perfectly matches my impressions:
"Ambitious and remarkably accessible. Not since Eric's Trip has a Canadian band managed to so successfully combine music that's both head-smashingly heavy and heart-achingly delicate."
(FFWD, Calgary)
Whoever said this expressed my thoughts a hundred times better than I would ever do. There are lots of different sounds on that CD, but they are kept in one sort of (this may sound stupid, but that's what it reminds me of) cinammon-tea-in-a-candlelit-room atmosphere. Paul Murphy's voice makes you want to lie down on a soft bed, close your eyes and just listen to it with a face of delight, but when Loel Campbell enters you get immediatly woken up by his his sharp percussion. Not forgetting about the guitar... oh, it's amazing! Once it's beautiful and delicate just to turn into breath-takingly heavy guitar riffs. The lyrics are simple, yet beautiful. And when Paul sings them... it just make you want to cry (in a positive way, of course). The real highlights of the album are "Jaws of Life", "Danse Macabre" and "Nerves Normal, Breath Normal". I love the drums in the first song I mentioned. It's a nice change of pace after "Lipstick", which opens the album. "Danse Macabre" is probably the heaviest of the songs listed on the "Untitled" and it makes me want to sing along. "Nerves Normal, Breath Normal" is quite long, but somehow doesn't bore me at all. It's perfectly balanced and calm.

Track list:

1."Lipstick"
2."Jaws of Life"
3."Insomnia"
4."Nerves Normal, Breath Normal"
5."Faithful Guide"
6."Danse Macabre"
7."Fog"
8."Listen (Listen, Listen)"
9."Migration"
10."A Long Flight"
11."People Talk"

Generally, the album is very mature and natural in comparison to band's previous self-titled release of 2003... and the cover art kicks ass! Ah, now, as I told you about the band I can sleep soundly. Feel free to check them out! :)

Pszyk xx


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