Wintersleep

Untitled

(Labwork/Dependent)

Record Review by Alexis Roberts

Wintersleep is a band from Canada, which should be the first giveaway that they are pretty good. Canadians are always producing impressive music; perhaps it is due to the fact that in some areas they are snowed in all winter and have more time to write and record. Nova Scotians have taken to Wintersleep like bees to honey.  Halifax entertainment weekly The Coast voted Wintersleep best Canadian band, best local act most likely to make it big and best local artist to be blown away by. Wintersleep caught my attention with their promo picture: four shaggy dudes bundled up in matching jackets standing in front of a wall of fashionable ladies shoes.

The album, which remains mysteriously untitled, was recorded in a haunted opera house and supposedly, supposedly- if you listen closely you can hear light "background noise" from the ghosts that roamed the opera house. Now I listened closely a few times, but have yet to hear any of the ghosts—which was a little bit disappointing to me, so don't go getting your hopes up for that.

Besides there being a sort of cool story behind the recording of the album, without knowing about the creepy setting, the music still gives you the chills, and sends off an icy, creepy vibe. It's an album filled to the brim with emotion. Some of the songs resonate with so much sorrow that it makes your heart hurt to listen to them. The insert of the album is a little storybook with a fable about a boy named Tom Kotter who wakes up one day to find that the sun has burned a hole through his little heart. He goes to school and suddenly wants to seclude himself from his school mates because of his broken heart; they try to tell him that it's all in his mind but he doesn't listen to them and just goes on being sad. It is sad, a tearjerker actually, especially considering that it's supposed to look like a little children's book.

They suggest “Danse Macabre,” “Jaws of Life,” “Fog” and “Migration” as tracks for listening. I suggest “A Long Flight,” “People Talk,” and “Listen [listen, listen]” but, to be honest, they are all lovely and worth a listen.  I will recommend this CD to everyone I know, but I think it will be most appreciated by fans of Sun Kil Moon, Mogwai, Low and Band of Horses.