Sleep Experiments by Sleep Experiments (Review)

I reviewed Sleep Experiments’ 2010 Flight Takes Thought EP earlier this year, in which I compared their music to that of Low, Ida, Au Revoir Borealis, and Velour 100. Right around that time, the Pittsburgh-based trio announced that they were recording a Kickstarter-funded full-length. The album was released this week, and it delivers on the EP’s promise.

Sleep Experiments is perfect music for the coming winter: The group easily straddles the line between ambient and folk-pop, creating echoing, cavernous walls of sound that nevertheless remain warm and organic due to the acoustic instrumentation, as well as the trio’s hushed vocal harmonies.

Again, to reference my review, this is “comfort” music, much like a favorite chair, sweater, or warm beverage. It’s not showy or “mind-blowing”, but it doesn’t need to be. Sleep Experiments is music you can simply rest and trust in — not because it fades into the background as aural wallpaper (consider the slow-burning urgency of “Nervous” or “Thief”), but rather, because it’s uniformly lovely and impassioned.

Highly recommended, and I suspect I’ll be listening to it quite a bit as we head further into darker, colder days.