Call Upon The Author

Canadian quintet Wintersleep have emerged from Halifax and with their second self titled album show some bizarre qualities mixed together that seem to work. The opening track “Lipstick” is vocally comparable to a combination of Biffy Clyro’s Simon Neil and Death Cab for Cuties Ben Gibbard. A lot of albums with this sound are easily predicted from beginning to end and I thought this would be the case with Wintersleep, however I was proved wrong and you can’t judge an album by just one song.
“Jaws of Life” is an excellent track with catchy lyrics and memorable beat, a beat that has been demonstrated by many bands before but never seems to disappoint. The sudden pauses emphasise the power in the song only to hear it end and lead into the beautiful track “Insomnia”. Here you hear softer vocals from Paul Murphy, this pin points something I really enjoyed about the album, despite getting to know the bands sound quickly it develops throughout the album and shows all things that the guys are capable of as opposed to sticking to the same old safe and most comfortable option.
“Nerves Normal. Breath Normal” brings the album back to it’s upbeat height only to be dropped with the lovely “Faithful Guide”, an acoustic number that combines almost every talent showed in previous tracks, with a powerful (to say the least) ending. “Danse Macabre” has a great intro that lives up to the name of the track and is a personal favourite as it reminds me of the days where Smashing Pumpkins were the best indie rock going (in a personal opinion) and proved how much times have changed for this genre in the previous years. The final track “People Talk” is again mainly acoustic and is a calming closing track. The music throughout shows that the band obviously know their stuff and aren’t just another set of ever hopefuls wishing on chance. I believe Wintersleep genuinely deserve all the good press they receive.