sleepmakeswaves – It’s Here, But I Have No Names For It
Release Date: 12th April 2024
Label: Bird’s Robe
Bandcamp
Genre: Instrumental, Post-Rock.
FFO: Caspian, Pg Lost., ef, Lost In Kiev, We Lost The Sea, Oh Hiroshima.
Review By: John Newlands
For those of you new to sleepmakeswaves, the band was originally formed in 2006 through an advertisement using the ancient art of Myspace. Old geezers like me remember fondly the Myspace era and many still mourn the loss of our ultimate best friend Tom (he isn’t dead, only Myspace), but anyway, I digress.
The band herald from Sydney, Australia and have four studio albums in the bag. For those with even a fleeting interest in post-rock, the name sleepmakeswaves will be familiar. Touring with bands such as Karnivool, Russian Circles, Rosettea, 65daysofstatic, This Will destroy You & And So I Watch You From Afar, to name but a few, the band is a well established entity within post-rock circles and worthy of their current success.
The bands latest release It’s Here, But I Have No Names For It, is their first studio album since 2020s These Dreams Are Not Your Dreams, which is in-fact a collection of 3 EPs mashed together, but anyway, let’s just call it an album.
It’s Here, But I Have No Names For It kicks off with All Hail Skull, an uplifting synth and guitar hook laden number with great melody. It’s a really good opener, setting the stage for what is going to follow. Super Realm Park is the lead single which opens with a strong lead synth before the full band kick in to create an up-tempo uplifting, energetic and all-round instrumental banger which then dives right into Ritual Control, yet another up-tempo and energetic offering. This one however has a darker feel to it and the band manage to capture a real sense of urgency, that we haven’t felt on earlier tracks.
Moving into the mid-section of the album, Black Paradise begins with a welcome moment of calm. The track opens with a single acoustic guitar before slowly building into include the rest of the band as well as the incorporation of strings, adding yet another layer to the lush sonic pallet that the band use.
Verdigris is next up, the shortest track on the album (at 3:31) and is a synth driven track which picks up a beautiful piano melody at its midsection. Verdigris is ethereal, it’s like a pause or a moment of reflection that instils a feeling of calm and serenity for this listener. It is both sombre and hopeful, and ultimately a beautiful piece of work. Each time this track has played, it makes me stop whatever I’m doing and take a moment. A moment to just be, just to stop and listen, and that is special and a wonderful thing to inspire. For this reason, despite its simplicity, it may be my favourite track on this release.
Moving into the back of the album, Terror Future moves us back into the up-tempo, more energetic side of the band. This one is a bass-driven monster, the tone is fantastic, and the bass riff really carries the song and projects it forward. At this point in many predominantly instrumental post-rock albums, I feel that the listeners attention can start to dwindle. Cleverly, it’s at this point that sleepmakeswaves integrate very nice clean vocals, before closing out the song with an awesome huge guitar/bass riff combo that sounds absolutely colossal.
It’s Here, But I Have No Names For It is the longest track on the release (8:30) and here leans most into the ‘post-rock’ tropes, with soaring guitars building to a crescendo before tapering down to a gentle close. Don’t get me wrong, despite the post-rock clichés it’s a great track, which again features vocals to keep the listener interested and engaged.
I can’t help but feel every time I listen that maybe I would have closed out the album instead of moving into the last track This Close Forever. But to be honest, this one is great too. It picks us up again for one last ride to close out the album with a big bang! And I like that.
It’s Here, But I Have No Names For It is self produced, and it’s very clear that they know what they are doing to capture the best sound of the band. It really is flawless and a beautiful representation of their sound. Very well done.
To close, for me this was a great listen, I enjoy hopeful energy and the moments of calm and reflection. I enjoy how emotive it is, and every time it ends I find myself smiling. Thank you, sleepmakeswaves, you brighten my day one smile at a time.
(4.5 / 5)
