https://www.high-endrolex.com/18

Sleep Moscow Premiere “Of the Sun” Video; Album out July 30

Posted in Bootleg Theater on July 2nd, 2021 by JJ Koczan

sleep moscow

Sweden’s Sleep Moscow will release their sophomore full-length, Of the Sun, on July 30 through Majestic Mountain Records. It is the Norrköping-based outfit’s first outing for the label and follows 2018’s A Wounded Moon — a short LP, if an LP, at 23 minutes — as a richly textured, deeply melancholic and semi-conceptual work that plays out across nine tracks and 38 minutes. A strong current of there-and-away runs throughout the songs — which makes it somewhat ironic that pieces like “Light Will Meet Us,” “Gift of Life,” “Of the Sun” (video premiering below) and the piano-and-string-inclusive “Alone,” which also features Stina Tosteby on guest vocals, are so memorable — fostered both in the album’s structure that opens with the wistful organ/keyboard intro “Home” and makes a centerpiece of the melancholy cello piece “Memories” as if to set up a contrast between the inherent brightness in titles like “Light Will Meet Us” and “Far Beyond Gone,” “Alone,” “Facing the Clouds” and “You Are Over.” The truth of the listening experience is more complex, with the title-track for example acting as one of the saddest and most minimal stretches while also serving as a highlight performance from Arvid Hällagård, also known for his work in Pools and best known as singer for Greenleaf.

Given the interplay between synthesized and organic elements, the way keys and vocals interact and especially the level of headphone-worthy detail that Of the Sun is delivered — even compared to A Wounded Moon, it is a marked step forward in intent and execution — it isn’t entirely surprising to learn that multi-instrumentalist and apparent project spearhead Petter Kindström has experience as well as a producer. Working with Eric Nilsson and enlisting others like HällagårdTostebyAlexander Westlund and maybe more, there is a sense of overarching, big-picture composition to the procession of songs that speaks to using the studio as an instrument in addition to whatever arrangement elements might come to the fore at a given moment,sleep moscow of the sun or even how they do, as one can hear in the forward surge of tonally weighted guitar in “Light Will Meet Us,” prefaced early in the song to set up an almost subconscious recognition as it leads into the hook a short while later.

These aspects and nuances of Sleep Moscow‘s sound are thought out enough to call Of the Sun progressive and not be wrong, but the focus is more on expression than experimentation, and the narrative loneliness playing out behind the mellotrons and keyboard handclaps of “Gift of Life” and the later melodic wash of “Far Beyond Gone” — layering of Hällagård‘s voice there adding to the movement toward a still-not-overblown apex — and the more blatantly techno-infused “Facing the Clouds” is a tie-in that unites varied material and emphasizes the human presence amid otherworldly immersion. They are still songs, and effective on that level of craft, even as the album as a whole pushes further into emotive and cosmic reaches as it goes.

“Of the Sun” and “You Are Over” feel like spiritual cousins if not direct companion pieces. Quiet even among a not-loud-till-you-turn-it-up procession, the former is singularly minimal in its arrangement on the record that bears its name — derived from Solaris, a point of inspiration for Kindström, as noted below — and the latter moves from a duly cinematic vintage-feeling keyboard line that feels like krautrock via the Clockwork Orange score, but they serve as an example of how the single cuts throughout Of the Sun work to bolster each other even when not running in direct succession. That’s just as true of “Gift of Life” and “Facing the Clouds,” or for that matter “Home” and “Memories.” This produces an end result that makes for a thoroughly satisfying and intricate listening experience, whether one wants to dig into every minute shift in aesthetic or arrangement or simply let the material carry them across the LP’s span in its entirety. It’s a cliché for a reason: you can get as much out of the album as you want to put into hearing it. Of the Sun more than justifies however much effort that might be.

If you watch the video for the title-track and it’s your first exposure to the record, don’t expect it to speak for the entirety. Do take it as a cue to check out “Light Will Meet Us,” which you can also hear on the Bandcamp player near the bottom of the post.

Enjoy:

Sleep Moscow, “Of the Sun” official video premiere

Petter Kindström on “Of the Sun”:

The working title for the album was Solaris, after the 1972 soviet sci-fi movie by director Andrei Tarkovsky. When finishing the lyrics for what was to become the title-track I discovered that the meaning of ‘Solaris’ is ‘of the sun’. I thought it was very beautiful so I worked the lyrics backwards from that phrase. The singer Arvid Hällagård was going through a tough year personally and the night before recording the song I played it for him. The day after when recording it he did it in one take, which was his first and only. Arvid got very emotional while singing it and was almost shaking at the end of the song. I think you can really hear how moved he was. Since he learned the song the night before you can hear him almost hesitating like he is making the words up, just as if the character was speaking about his feelings and experiences.

The song differs from the first single ‘Light Will Meet Us’ in how it’s produced. This song is very minimalistic with only vocals and piano. I wrote it on guitar, but I always knew it was a song that would work best on piano. So, I did a basic recording and gave it to my friend Alexander Westlund who is a very talented pianist and composer. I trusted him with writing an intro and a middle section and I’m very happy with what he did. Me and Eric Nilsson tried adding some strings but everything we tried felt like it was in the way of the song. It felt detached. We kept it simple and by doing so, I’m very proud of this song.

Preorder: https://majesticmountainrecords.bigcartel.com/product/sleep-moscow-of-the-sun

Formed in 2018 as an ego-less and mood driven project, Sleep Moscow is entirely defined by the talents of Petter Kindström, Eric Nilsson and Greenleaf’s Arvid Hällagård. Based in Norrköping and now working closely alongside fellow countrymen Majestic Mountain Records, Of the Sun is a moving concept album with a story arc that spans from beginning to beyond. Like an old soviet sci-fi movie or poignant novella, it’s a measured tale of a cosmonaut departing a dying earth and leaving everything behind in a quest for something bigger.

Sleep Moscow, Of the Sun (2021)

Sleep Moscow on Facebook

Sleep Moscow on Instagram

Sleep Moscow on Bandcamp

Majestic Mountain Records webstore

Majestic Mountain Records on Facebook

Majestic Mountain Records on Instagram

Tags: , , , , ,