THE SLEEPING SOULS – JUST BEFORE THE WORLD STARTS BURNING – ALBUM REVIEW
The Sleeping Souls are synonymous with Frank Turner and it was slightly surprising for fans when the group announced news that they will be releasing music of their own. The fact is though that the origins of The Sleeping Souls go way back to 2001 and the band Dive Dive, with the members always having had musical interests outside of the day job.
Taking the role of singer for this version of the band is Cahir OāDoherty who is also a huge part of the Turner touring family and brings a wealth of experience from his work with the likes of New Pagans and Fighting With Wire. The Sleeping Souls touring line-up of Tarrant Anderson, Matt Nasir, Callum Green and Ben Lloyd round out the creative DNA of the band.
Whatās been quite clear from the pre-release singles is that this new music is very distinct from that released with Turner, which is no surprise. The album has been recorded over a three year period and the care and attention put into the record shines through and ensures that the songs flow perfectly. This is definitely not a throw everything at the wall and see what sticks approach, the songwriting is meticulous and assured.
Stylistically the twelve tracks demonstrate a diverse palate of influences but at times you can clearly sense the likes of Radiohead and Feeder with a post-grunge, alt-rock aesthetic. There are all out rockers and a handful of tender moments on what is a sonically ambitious collection.
There may have been the odd cynical sideways glance when The Sleeping Souls set out their plans, but the proof as they say is in the pudding and āJust Before The World Starts Burningā is a sublimely delicious offering. There isnāt a bad track on the album and the conviction of this group to take this bold step is well and truly vindicated.
The band will be hitting the road for a short tour alongside Sean McGowan early next year, and these songs really do give the sense that they will sound enormous on stage. If our album of the year list wasnāt already written, this would be vying for the very top spot!
Our weekly music News Report has evolved into theĀ Full Pelt Magazine, and you can download the seventh issue now for free!
Volume seven includes an update from cover starsĀ The Xcerts, reviews ofĀ Blink 182 and Funeral For A FriendĀ live, album reviews for Creeper, REWS, Beartooth and The Dollyrots and a load more!
We have our News Report rounding up new releases fromĀ Bring Me The Horizon, Feeder, Blossoms, The Sleeping Souls, Thornhill, MOSKITO, Waterparks, Delilah Bon, South of Salem, Powerwolf, Gama Bomb, Employed To Serve, PLAIINS, Scott Stapp, END and Lord of the Lost!
Plus new live announcements fromĀ Bryan Adams, YONAKA, Stonedead Festival, Casey and Haunt the Woods.
Finally, we round up the latest additions to ourĀ āDiscoverā New Music PlaylistĀ withĀ Spyres,Ā Future StaticĀ andĀ Crushed by Waves!
Our weekly music News Report has evolved into theĀ Full Pelt Magazine, and you can download the sixth issue now for free!
Volume six includes an update from cover starsĀ Dream Nails, reviews ofĀ Ash, The Subways and Muse live and a load more!
We have our News Report rounding up new releases fromĀ Mike Shinoda, Normandie, The Cadillac Three, Tesseract, Haunt The Woods, Millie Manders and the Shutup, LĆLĆ, Tropic Gold and BLACKGOLD!
Plus new live announcements fromĀ Within Temptation, Tenacious D, The Gaslight Anthem, 2000trees, Suede, Manic Street Preachers, Beartooth, Blackberry Smoke, The Sleeping Souls and Sean McGowan.
Finally, we round up the latest additions to ourĀ āDiscoverā New Music PlaylistĀ withĀ modernlove., Break Fifty and Noah and the Loners!
Our weekly music News Report has evolved into theĀ Full Pelt Magazine, and you can download the fourth issue now for free!
Volume four includes an update from cover starsĀ Creeper, a review ofĀ āConfessions of the FallenāĀ fromĀ Staind plus a special feature on Metal for Good!
We have our News Report rounding up new releases fromĀ Bruce Dickinson, Blink 182, The Dollyrots, Chelsea Wolfe, Alien Weaponry, Helmet, VEXED, The Cadillac Three, P.O.D., The Vaccines, Against The Current, The K’s, Casey, Jack Valero, Little Man Tate, The Sleeping Souls, Interlaker, The Pale White, Florence BlackĀ andĀ North Atlas!
Plus new live announcements fromĀ Bury Tomorrow, Poppy, Hot Water Music, Jake BuggĀ andĀ Grade 2.
Welcome everyone to another edition of our weekly music News Report!
We start this week with the best new releases from the past week, including metal titans Metallica, who are up first.
As the band continue to prepare for the release of their new album, ’72 Seasons’, on April 14th, they’ve this week shared new single, ‘Screaming Suicide’. You can check out the track above.
āāScreaming Suicideā addresses the taboo word of suicide. The intention is to communicate about the darkness we feel inside. It’s ridiculous to think we should deny that we have these thoughts. At one point or another, I believe most people have thought about it. To face it is to speak the unspoken. If it’s a human experience, we should be able to talk about it. You are not alone.ā – James Hetfield
Fall Out Boy return with ‘Love From The Other Side’
Fall Out Boy – ‘Love From The Other Side’
It was also a big news week for Fall Out Boy as the group announced that they will release their latest album, ‘So Much (For) Stardust’, on March 24th.
Revealing the news the band shared the following with fans:
āāTime is luck.ā
Finish another tour. You reflect but not like a gem in the sun ā more like a year long stare into yourself in another airplane bathroom
Sometimes you gotta blow everything you were and put the pieces back together in a new shape. The same but different ā the foundation dynamited and the dust used to create the concrete pour. I have a tendency to get a little sad whenever I think about anythingā¦but I also feel pure joy when I think that I exist at the same time as whales or that read happens to rise at a certain temperature. And that we happen to be spinning on this little blue rock at the exact same time together.
So much (for) stardust.ā
Accompanying the news, was new single, ‘Love From The Other Side’, which you can check out above!
Metal icons Saxon also have a new album on its way with ‘More Inspirations’ set for March 24th. The album explores the bands influences and new single, ‘The Faith Healer’, debuted this week. You can check the single out above.
Frontman Biff Byford comments āWe used to see The Sensational Alex Harvey band play this back in the day, they started the set with it, such a fantastic song and fantastic bandā¦ big influence!ā
Ian Hunter has announced the release of his new album, ‘Defiance Part 1′, arriving on April 21st.
Among the most star-studded original albums ever recorded, the record sees Hunter joined by the late, great Jeff Beck, Johnny Depp, Joe Elliott (Def Leppard), Billy F Gibbons (ZZ Top), Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters), Duff McKagan (Guns Nā Roses), Todd Rundgren, Slash (Guns Nā Roses), Jeff Tweedy (Wilco), Robert Trujillo (Metallica), Waddy Wachtel (Stevie Nicks, Keith Richards), Brad Whitford(Aerosmith), Dane Clark (John Mellencamp), Billy Bob Thornton & J.D. Andrew (The Boxmasters) and Dean DeLeo, Robert De Leo & Eric Kretz (Stone Temple Pilots).
You can check out the first single, ‘Bed Of Roses’, above featuring guitarist Mike Campbell (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Fleetwood Mac) and drums by Ringo Starr.
āIt was a fluke,ā Ian Hunter says. āThis was not planned. Really, Iām serious. I really couldnāt believe some of them. I mean, itās amazing whatās happened. Itās been such a buzz.ā
āEverybodyās sitting around,ā says Hunter. āItās Covid. Nobodyās going anywhere. We started sending them out. Slash started doing something. Robert Trujillo from Metallica. Ringo Starr, Mike Campbell. Joe Elliott is on a few tracks. Johnny Depp said āJeff Beckās with me and weād like to do a couple of songs.ā I know Todd Rundgren, I toured with Todd way back, heās done an amazing job. Billy Gibbons. Billy Bob Thornton and JD Andrew from The Boxmasters. Itās never ending. I mean, every day weād get a phone call, this guy wants to do it, that guy wants to do it. It was like, I canāt believe this.ā
āThere are a lot of reasons for calling this album ‘Defianceā says Hunter. āItās like, people my age shouldnāt be making records, blah, blah, blah. But weāve still got a bit left.ā
Our News Report continues with the latest track from DMA’s, ‘Fading Like A Picture’, which you can check out above. The single comes from upcoming new album, ‘How Many Dreams?’, which is out 31st March.
Guitarist Johnny Took comments, āOur palette for this album was a lot broader because weāve learned so much since our debut and weāve listened to so much more music between then and now, which has shaped us. It felt like a first outing all over again. The excitement was the same.ā
Took continues: āTommy wrote the majority of this song to an obscure demo I made during lockdown. When we all came together to demo it, Mason added one of my favourite guitar riffs on the new album, and we used the middle-eight from another demo as the chorus. A true DMAāS collaboration.ā
SlĆøtface this week shared their latest single, ‘Nose’, which you can check out above.
The track comes ahead of new EP, ‘Awake / Asleep’, which is due for release on February 24th.
Haley Shea had the following to say about the new single and February’s EP:
“‘Nose’ is what I would call a pretty general āSlĆøtface anxietyā song, a recurring theme I always come back to. Nose is a conversation between me and a loved one where Iām trying to use imagery to describe what anxiety feels like to someone who doesnāt experience it, how even the smallest things can trigger it and send me into a thought spiral that feels impossible to stop. The choruses are then the replies of someone I love reminding me to breathe, a tactic which usually helps me calm my thoughts, when done in the right way, by my partner, family and loved ones.
āāā’Nose’ started when I visited Odd Martin at his studio in Bergen in March of 2022 to write some songs. It ended up being a super-productive couple of days where we wrote about 7 different demos on the first day alone, and then chose a couple to flesh out on the second day. “Nose” was the last song we tried out at the end of that second day.
The mix of the heavier, rhythmic, bass-focused verses and the big, layered, poppier choruses, all combined with saxophonist Aksel RĆønning adding some extra spice, grit and depth to the whole track makes it one of our absolute favorites on the EP.”
The Sleeping Souls debut ‘Caught Up In The Scrape’
The Sleeping Souls – ‘Caught Up In The Scrape’
Next up in our News Report are The Sleeping Souls who continue their own musical journey with their latest single, ‘Caught Up In The Scrape’. As always you can check out the track above!
This week also saw the latest new music coming from The Pearl Harts as they shared their track ‘Wild Me’.
The band shared, “Wild Me is a song about frustration within the sexes from the viewpoint of a woman ā in this instance a hetero cis relationships and how patriarchal ideology can damage and shame a woman and her natural instincts.
Why do women get called crazy, wild and out of control when their behaviour only mirrors that of men? Rarely is the same label put on them. āWhere do I stand if I canāt be the man?ā Wild me strives to call out these behaviours by crying out āWild me, Why meā with force and discontentment. It forces you to understand that being wild is awe-inspiring and nothing to be ashamed of.”
We move our News Report on now to the latest tour announcements and get started with the legendary Paul Weller. Weller this week revealed he will play a short run of Forest live dates in the Summer.
Commenting on the dates, Weller said, āI am very happy to be playing the Forest Live gigs again as they are always such great shows with such a great audience! See you there.ā
Canadian sibling duo Softcult share their latest single, ‘Dress’. The track comes from new EP, ‘see you in the dark’, out March 24th.
“This song is about consent; it’s about saying ‘no’ and having it happen to you anyway,” Mercedes explains. “It’s about being followed while walking alone at night or being cornered in a bar when we’re just trying to have a night out with our friends. Itās about the lingering fear and trauma that haunts us long after these experiences have happened. Itās about how these experiences make us feel powerless and change the way we see ourselves.”
Shadow Smile – ‘Signed in Blood’
Sheffield rising star Shadow Smile, share their track, ‘Signed in Blood’ which is the title-track of their debut album.
Lead vocalist Connor McGovern comments – ‘We wanted this song to be a modern take on songs like ‘Sympathy For The Devil’ by the Rolling Stones where the listener is being told why they should forget their morals and join the dark side. Those songs have always been a lot of fun and fit perfectly with the dark Shadow Smile imagery’.
Real Terms – ‘Veil is Thinner’
‘Veil is Thinner’ presents an advance look at Real Terms‘ debut album, ‘Vantage’, which is out February 24th.
āI think thereās also something about the different musical āperspectivesā we all bring together that makes our sound,ā says guitarist Christopher āLynnyā Lynn, āthe way our parts interweave and interlink and the perspective the listener can bring to it. Thereās not always āa centreā in our songs so I always love it when people comment on how catchy the songs are when they see us live. I find that combination of songs being complex and catchy at the same time really compelling.ā
Welcome everyone to another edition of our weekly music News Report!
We start this week with the sensational news that Tom, Mark and Travis are reunited together again and Blink-182 will be heading out on a huge world tour in 2023!
In the UK that equates to an arena run taking in Glasgow, Belfast, Birmingham, Manchester and two shows in London. UK support comes from The Story So Far.
The trio also debuted new track, ‘Edging’, which you can check out below and revealed a new album is on the way.
Our News Report continues with news from the Yard Act camp. Bringing an end to their hugely successful campaign for debut album, ‘The Overload’, the group have revealed four special live dates next year.
The run will conclude with their biggest headline date so far at the legendary Brixton Academy!
Another band targeting some pretty intimate venues for their next UK tour are Stone Broken who this week announced details of their ‘Come Closer’ tour set for February next year.
The final tour announcement in our News Report this week comes from guitar slinger Kenny Wayne Shepherd! Shepherd and band will be celebrating the 25th Anniversary of ‘Trouble Is…’.
This week saw Rival Sons return with news that they will be releasing a new album, ‘Darkfighter’ on March 10th.
The group also debuted their brand new single, ‘Nobody Wants To Die’, which you can listen to above.
Regarding ‘Nobody Wants to Die’, vocalist Jay Buchanan shares, āYou live your life knowing that the sword of Damocles is hanging over your head by a thread. Youāre fully aware of the impermanence of your existence, but you canāt think about it all the timeāor itāll fuck your life up.
I used to work in a mortuary as a service advisor for a few years, driving and opening the hearses. Iād attend three funerals per day. Sometimes, they would be filled over capacity. Other times, it would just be me, a priest, and a hole in the ground. It doesnāt matter who you are; the great equalizer is coming. I was thinking of this because the music sounded like pursuit.ā
Elaborating on the genesis of ‘Darkfighter’, Buchanan notes, ā’Darkfighter’ represents the cultural mitosis of isolation, the Pandemic, and the national fabric of the US getting looser and looser. When I say āCultural Mitosisā, there are lines being drawn constantly. Weāre so divided, and you canāt step over the lines without offending someone. It certainly informed my writing.
We recognized a responsibility to put a good word on peopleās ears so thereās a good word coming back on their tongues too. We missed the joy of the live show and that magical interaction. When it was taken from us, that made me want to sing about topics that were important. There are strong themes on this record of loss of identity, preservation of joy, and beholding light and shape again.ā
Lead guitarist Scott Holiday added, āRecords are a healthy form of escapism. I hope this one takes you as far away as possible. Our intent was to create a cinematic body of work. As soon as the doors shut behind you, youāre enveloped on the ride. This is the sound of us really coming into our own. Weāve gotten further from our influences and gotten closer to what we are. ‘Darkfighter’ sounds like the Rival Sons.ā
This week saw Tigercub return with their new single, ‘The Perfume of Decay’, which you can listen to above.
The track marks Tigercubās debut release for Loosegroove Records, the label co-founded by Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard, a longtime champion of the band.
āThey say comparison is the thief of joy,ā says Tigercubās 7-foot frontman Jamie Hall,āand nowhere is this more acutely felt than on the internet; the public ledger where I must amend my social cv daily, to portray my life to others in the most rose tinted & ineffable way possible. The reality couldnāt be further from the truth of course, beneath this facade I am crumbling, cascading into despair and at odds with my emotions. āThe Perfume of Decayā is my expression of this feeling, an argument between affectation and naturalness. It marks the beginning of a new era for us ā this is Tigercub at its heaviest, its most accomplished, and most unapologetic.ā āJamie Hall is not only an incredible songwriter, singer, and fucking wicked guitarist,ā says Stone Gossard,ābut he also has a deep understanding of art and music history. This guy dabbles in it all ā visual arts, digital media, world history. This band is generational, and Jamieās a natural star. Loosegroove couldnāt be happier working with Tigercub.ā
āItās all about opposites,ā Jamie Hall says. āSweet-and-salty popcorn tends to taste better than regular popcorn, even though those are two opposing forces. I wanted to nail that concept with our heavy guitars, softer-sung vocals, Can-style grooves, and a bit of shoegaze. Counterpoints can come together and make a powerful connection. Iāve crossed the threshold from my 20s to my 30s, so Iām getting older, but Iām also entering my prime. This record is a reflection of that.ā
Pulled Apart By Horses share video for ‘Rinse & Repeat’
Pulled Apart By Horses – ‘Rinse & Repeat’
Pulled Apart By Horses this week shared the video for their single, ‘Rinse & Repeat’, which you can watch above. The track comes from new album, ‘Reality Cheques’, which is out now!
Commenting on the track, vocalist Tom Hudson says the single is āan ode to all that have found themselves trapped in the darker corners of the music industry. The repetitive whirring of the machine. A spanner in the works of the daily grind. A helping hand to break out of a vicious cycle. The realisation that they need you more than you need them. Inspired by seeing Ziggy Stardust stood in line at the jobcentre. More punk rock than Iggy advertising life insurance.ā
There was also more new music this week from Witch Fever. The group debuted new single, ‘Beauty and Grace’, which you can check out above.
The track features on debut album, ‘Congregation’, which is out October 21st.
Singer Amy Walpole says of the track, āāBeauty and Graceā ended up being the dark horse of the record! Before we went into the studio it wasnāt one of our faves but Sam really brought it out of its shell! The song is about pushing back against oppressive feminine beauty standards whilst also finding a place for femininity that you enjoy and makes you feel powerful !! Femininity is not a weakness, as much as society may tell you it is! If it empowers you and brings you joy itās a strength!ā
Dream State return with new line-up and new single ‘Taunt Me’
Dream State – ‘Taunt Me’
Following a period of uncertainty, this week saw the spectacular return of Dream State! With a fresh line-up, the group debuted their brand new single, ‘Taunt Me’, which you can check out above.
The final new release in our News Report this week comes from The Sleeping Souls! Usually seen backing Frank Turner, the group have stepped out with touring buddy Cahir on vocals.
‘Liar Lover’ is the first sample of what to expect from the band in this guise, and you can check it out above.
Norwich-based post-hardcore outfit Other Half have debuted new track ‘Slab Thick’.
Commenting on the video, the band say: āBSM wanted a high-concept, high-production pop video to help shift some serious units so we wrangled the few dogs we know and the one cat we own to produce three and a half minutes of visual magic.ā
āWe like doing everything ourselves; for DIY punk kudos and because weāre tight and awkward, so it was fun figuring out how to make it look like weāre all playing in a room together even when one of us was filming the whole time.”
āFor the second part of the video we had next to nothing and were filming some pretty shudder-inducing stuff in the local park when our friendās Roya and Charlie walked past with their dogs; Daisy and Lily. Never one to miss a free opportunity for content, we scooped those dogs up, spun around a bit and sung at the camera. Rinse, repeat and the rest is history. Thanks to all the nice animals that starred alongside us.ā
IOTA – ‘Ballet Box’
‘Ballet Box’, the latest single from Bristol-based rock five-piece IOTA is out now.
Explaining the inspiration behind the single, vocalist and lyricist Jodie Robinson explains, āIts about a ballerina inside of a jewellery box coming to life as the box closes. Inspired by the thought of the āobjectā coming to life and how they’d never know what it was like to be outside of that box and nobody would ever know that they were alive. There was a play on the element of control and feeling trapped, fighting with that part of your mind. Itās very much a song about āIs there more to life and can we fulfil that void’.”
Blue Violet – ‘Favourite Jeans’
Blue Violet follow up debut album with new single, ‘Favourite Jeans’.
āFor all of the chaos and hardships that Covid brought to the world it also provide ample time for people to be creativeā reflects singer Sarah Gotley of the āLove, Hate & Forgivenessā EP. āSo although we only released our debut album in April this year we wanted to bring out some of the music that we’d been working on in that timeā.
