WINTERSLEEP – Untitled

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.

WINTERSLEEP – Wintersleep

This is the first of 2 self titled Wintersleep albums, and it is a noticeable start for the band. From the opening track “Sore” it is easy to presume that this was a first album from the band. With shaky vocals and careful instrumentals the band are clearly testing the waters before beginning to show their true colours, by “Snowstorm” and “Avalanche” the band begin to shine through and it almost seems as if they are sitting more comfortably.
A favourite of mine is “Home” however disappointingly leads into “Caliber” which obviously holds a more negative tone and harsher vocals, although variation is a positive aspect, I prefer the original style put across. The melodic guitar works in its favour but simpler and calmer vocals may have been a better accompaniment. Besides “Assembly Lines” and “Motion” the second half of the album becomes a little monotonous and I was tempted to call it a day, however it just seems that the boys had allowed themselves to slip into a comfort zone and remain there for a good 15 minutes, which is never wise.
The second self titled album proves that the Canadian quintet are capable of much more than this and I’m so glad they decided to show it, otherwise I’d fear good talent was going to waste. Therefore as much as I regret to say, this album didn’t work for me and simply didn’t do the band justice therefore letting the second album take rein and show their true skills and imagination.

EDITORS/WINTERSLEEP Live @ Southampton Guildhall, 26/10/2009

There were mixed opinions as my better half and I took the train to Southampton. She was excited about the prospect of seeing Editors and declared that the support would be, in her words, “meh!”. I disagreed, venturing the opinion that the headliners set would be bland and over rehearsed but the spontaneous nature of Wintersleep would make them an exciting live proposition.
Before we could get an answer though, the first band of the night, Airship, took to the stage. They weren’t bad actually, but there was too much going on. If they could pick a style and stick with it, they could well go places though.
Wintersleep were next up and I was excited, I’d not seen these guys since I was in Toronto in 2007 and it was worth the wait, a blistering set saw the band really come to life with a heavier and more thumping version of ‘Weighty Ghost’ than you’d get on record. Following up with ‘Oblivion’ these Nova Scotians were clearly hooking the audience and at least one person in the audience was loudly singing along. The band ended with a blistering jam on the always impressive ‘Nerves Normal, Breath Normal’. On any given night this is a live favourite but I can’t imagine it being better than this punchy, visceral take!
Editors chose not to compete musically, rather they had a rather impressive lightscreen. The band were slick, but there was a complete lack of highs and lows, every song seemingly the same as the last. Needless to say, the crowd – largely covered in tee-shirts bought on their way in – lapped it up. After just under an hour, we’d had enough and headed out into the night… I think it’s safe to say though, that I was right!

NEWSFLASH: Wintersleep On Tour With Editors plus Free Downloads!

FOUR FREE DOWNLOADS: http://www.wintersleep.com/giveaway/
(one song from Wintersleep’s first album, two from their second and as a bonus a Live recording of ‘Search Party’ from current album ‘Welcome To The Night Sky’

WINTERSLEEP are currently on their biggest European tour to date as special guests to EDITORS. Having spent the last month writing and recording the follow-up to ‘Welcome To The Night Sky’, WINTERSLEEP and their studio tans arrive in Belfast on Oct 7th returning home to Canada just in time for Christmas.

WINTERSLEEP are Special Guests of Editors on their HUGE European tour which reaches London Hammersmith Apollo tomorrow night…
21 Oct – LONDON, Hammersmith Apollo
22 Oct – Sheffield, Academy
23 Oct – Nottingham, Rock City
24 Oct – LONDON, Tabernacle – Wintersleep headline show
25 Oct – Wolverhampton, Civic
26 Oct – Southampton, Guildhall

Their current album, ‘Welcome To The Night Sky’ is a continuing success with Album of the Week on Zane Lowe, A-Lists at 6 Music, XFM and NME Radio and now, previously unreleased outside North America, their first two albums will be available. ‘Wintersleep’ (2003) and ‘Untitled’ (2005) will be released by One Four Seven Records on October 19th 09 in the UK and Europe.

PLEASE ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF – Wintersleep

Wintersleep are one of Canada’s most exciting acts, yet they haven’t yet made the same impact in the UK as some of their contemporaries. Certainly though, after repeated appearances at Great Escape and a number of tours, their profile is on the rise. A while back I caught up with lead singer Paul Murphy to do an interview for another site. Sadly though, they have failed to publish it, so here, for your reading pleasure is the chat we had.

Canada’s best kept secret are beginning to be heard about in the UK, read on to find out more about them!

Wintersleep are a band that this writer has been keeping an eye on for some time, importing CDs from Canada to keep up with their releases. With their soaring, mesmeric tunes and unique outlook they’ve taken audiences by storm at home and now they’re making inroads into the UK. We’re really excited that they’re about to come back to the UK for another short tour, so when is a better time to catch up with the guys?

Hi guys, I guess we should start at the beginning, tell us about how you all met and what persuaded you to form Wintersleep?

I guess it started unassumingly enough.. Tim and I played in a band called Kary and Loel and Tim played in a band called Contrived.. We were big fans of each others bands.. We ended up recording a bunch of songs for fun in Loel’s apartment at the time, which was basically this big, badly built 30 story tower that swayed in the wind [I think it is swaying to this day:)].. Ugly, ugly thing. It’s a Halifax problem actually.. Big ugly buildings.. Anyway, nice acoustics in Fenwick Towers.. I guess after recording and then showing the songs around to people, the response was really positive.. and we had a lot of fun doing it most importantly, so we wanted to make a full length record.. which involved touring enough to pay for the full length.. I guess it kinda went from there.. It has certainly come a lot further than initially intended. We’re all really grateful for that.

How would you describe your music?

I’ve always thought descriptions were best coming from objective sources… and not band members How would you describe it? (actually I’d describe it a mellower take on Radiohead, with a jam band feel and lyrics that are less dramatic and more witty – Matt) You’re from Halifax, Nova Scotia, which isn’t an area traditionally known for its music scene. Do you feel your home has shaped your music and given you a different perspective to other bands?

Ever hear of the Rankins?

We actually aren’t from Halifax proper.. We grew up in really small towns, Yarmouth NS and Stellarton, very much on the outskirts of Halifax.. Well, hours away really… We started playing music together in Halifax though.. I guess NS is a pretty rural feeling city, which makes it different than a city like Toronto… A lot of green, pretty landscapes.. the ocean.. fishermen.. farmers.. a great sense of community.. A cool art scene.. A horrible bus system.. Propeller beer [yummy local micro-brew beer].. Some great coffee shops.. Good music.. A great appreciation for music and art in the community.. A nice place to be a band in for sure.

I came across you guys after a recommendation from a Canadian friend and ended up at your gig at The Mod Club, Toronto in November 2007. It was a superb night and I was struck by the response from the crowd, who were both rowdy and at the same time very attentive, how do you find the crowds differ in the UK from Canada?

I guess generally the UK crowd is slightly more reserved than the Canadian crowd, that is just judging on the limited amount of shows we’ve played in the UK of course.. I guess we’re relatively new to the UK, so a lot of people come not really knowing what to expect and I guess they’re making us earn it a bit more in the UK.. Which is a good thing!!

Welcome To The Night Sky is your first UK release, I think it’s probably the most instantly accessible of your three albums so far, was this a conscious move and if so why?

I think writing songs together and playing live, you get better and more confident at what you’re doing, you learn how to drive the point home as quickly and clearly as possible. I think Tony really helped us bring the more melodic parts to the forefront and was all about getting the best possible performances of the songs.. I think it was a pretty natural “move,” if a “move” can be natural in this context.. I guess it wasn’t a move really.. it just sorta happened.. so maybe “move” is the wrong word.. “move” is actually kind of a cool word. It feels weird on the lips when repeated as much as I’ve repeated it here. I am on a plane, and will be for another 3 hours.. And then a 5 hour layover.. Forgive me for dwelling on this move thing..

You’re openly supportive of tapers and photographers at your gigs; this is something you don’t often see from UK bands, was it a conscious decision to allow tapers to set up at your shows?

We have lots of friends that are interested in that sort of stuff and yeah, as long as you ask before hand and make intentions clear.. People have been very respectful thus far with that sort of stuff.

Are there plans on the table for your next album? If so, what can we expect from you guys in the future?

I guess we are always working on new material.. We have some songs in the works. Been hard to really suss them out with all the touring. BUt.. all in due time as they say:)

You’ve shared the bill with some big names in the past, are there any bands that stand out and any stories you’d like to share with our readers?

Hmmm. The tour we did with Wolf Parade was pretty stand out for us.. Just being on a tour with such a solid band.. We got robbed on that tour actually too, in Louisianna.. and then had to fly to a music festival in British Columbia that day, minutes after finding out all of our stuff had been robbed.. Pemberton festival in BC.. It was a pretty big festival.. Jay Z played it and I think Coldplay did too.. Needless to say, the line-up of cars to get in the festival was completely blocked. .So we had no way of getting into the festival to play.. Except that the festival arranged for a HELICOPTER to fly us in:) So.. yeah,, we basically hopped in a… helicopter.. and were dropped really close to the stage we were playing.. We played [with borrowed equipment] and headed to the airport directly after the show to meet Wolf Parade in Atlanta.. We felt like Linkin Park or something.. Weird..

You guys won a Juno award (Canada’s equivalent of the Brit awards) in 2008 for Best New Group, it must have felt good to get industry recognition for your work?

Yeah.. Was a pretty boozy night… Forgot to thank a bunch of people..

Thanks for taking the time out to answer our questions, is there anything else you’d like to say to our readers?

Thanks so much.. A pleasure to do it..

P XOXO

WINTERSLEEP – Welcome To The Night Sky

Wintersleep are a band I’ve been keeping an eye on for a couple of years now (in fact, I caught them live in 2007 in Toronto and they were fantastic), but it’s taken them a lot of time and hard work to break through in the UK. They’ve finally established themselves though and have issued their first album in the UK (and their third album proper), Welcome To The Night Sky. It’s a good place to start for the uninitiated, being a lot more accessible than their previous work. In fact, in ‘Weighty Ghost’ this album has their first song with actual chart potential! It’s a great little tune, and even the heavy subject matter (loss of identity) doesn’t detract from the jaunty melody. Elsewhere, on tracks like ‘Drunk on Aluminium’ and ‘Astronaut’ the band cash in on their heavy artillery in the form of drummer Loel Campbell, a prodigious talent whose playing is at once both potently ferocious and delicately restrained. Of course this is a band who are at their best in the live arena, showcased by the fact that ‘Miasmal Smoke & The Yellow Bellied Freaks’ can be a track you’d be tempted to skip on CD, but blisteringly powerful when performed in front of you. This being a UK release there are “bonus tracks” too. ‘The Kids are Ultra-Violent’ and ‘Early In The Morning’ are both good tracks, but neither add anything to the album. All in all, this is a potent release, but if you want to really understand the band, try and get hold of their tow earlier albums and prepare to be blown away!