The Sleeping Souls – awake and off the leash.
Release Date: 24th November 2023
Label: Xtra Mile Recordings
Format: Digital / CD
It feels like there’s something missing. More often than not preceded by ‘Frank Turner and’, getting used to Tarrant Anderson, Matt Nasir, Callum Green, Ben Lloyd and ‘new recruit’ and chief songwriter Cahir O’Doherty is perhaps doing the hugely reliable Sleeping Souls a disservice.
To their credit, finding time to be themselves must present some issues, Frank committed to being a total touring maniac, yet the band has decided now is time to branch out with their own independent project. To be fair, the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree with songs written and gathered while on tour (inevitably), there’s an immediate urgency and passion that you’ll find the Souls delivering night after night on a regular basis.
Pulsing with a punky, new wave vitality, the opening flurry goes from 0-60 in a few steps., climaxing as Scared Of Living fills an R.E.M sized gap. And, having set out the stall with a trio of bangers, the pace becomes more relaxed and a more considered and restrained musical side surfaces including a mainstream appeal of Remeber Boann and the stripped way back Steal Some Time. “Let’s pretend there’s nothing left to say,” hits the relationship spot and gets countered with the aggressive fury in the comeback of Rivals where the pumping bassline is straight from the Bruce Foxton big book of bass.
Cahir talks of how the album touches on several lyrical subjects: “lost love, frustration, escapism and obsession – but at its core it’s about my relationship with my family. The process of writing and recording this album has been cathartic and helped me survive.” There’s certainly an uplift that appears in several pockets be they accompanied by a rowdy band or more sparse and intimate arrangements on acoustic guitar or piano with some lush textures swimming about.
While initial thoughts might have had us declaring the links with the day job, Just Before The World Starts Burning has plenty of diversions to show how the Sleeping Souls have something to call their own.
Here’s Rivals:
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