- Sleep Decade are a three-piece that hail from somewhere between Melbourne and Geelong, made up of two brothers and a close friend. The strong, indeed familial relationship between the three becomes increasingly evident over the course of their new record, with its sparse, yet still incredibly lush atmosphere. Where spacious electronic textures and gorgeously melodic guitar parts make you feel as if you’re three feet off of the ground, the tight, repetitive, minimalist beats and simple, emotive bass-lines keep you planted firmly on the floor.
The group has certainly been kicking about for a long time, Collapse being their first release in the past five years. This time around though, everything has been refined; pared back to bare essentials. It gives the impression that everything you are hearing has been carefully considered, that in amongst the immense spaces that each song lays claim to, every sound included is deliberate, each softly strummed chord becomes crucial, imperative. The tender vocals throughout reference isolation, small-town laments, love lost and the usual suspects for the most part, but occasionally explore more abstract spheres of reality on some tracks.
Even though the influence of slowcore (eg. Low, Codeine) is obvious, personally I find Collapse hits a lot closer to home. There are echoes of some of Australia’s greatest contemporary musicians on this release, and I found myself drifting into nostalgia more than once as I recalled bands ranging from To The North and Dirty Three during the albums finer moments. However, Sleep Decade are far from derivative, and hearing Collapse is all the proof you’ll need to confirm that.
- Clayton Bick-Paterson.