Sleeping States, the brainchild of Markland Starkie (from across the pond), doesn’t make the kind of music you want to listen to on a car ride. It’s winding and gentle; hypnotic. Listening to “Life vs. Love,” for example, literally makes me feel like my head and shoulders are rocking back and forth, slowly and smooth. If I had this on the radio while I drove from SF to LA I’m sure I’d drive off the road and into the ocean. I also don’t think I’d care. The lo-fi harmony and complex finger-style guitar work completely enrapts me. Perfect music to listen to with the lights out and the headphones on.
I didn’t like it at first, in fact, because I usually don’t hear stuff like this. Also, I usually review my music in the car or while I’m out walking. It wasn’t until the ten-minute-long (and nearly perfect) “Memory Games” came on at night, when my shuffle was on random, that I heard through the music and got to the heart of the song. It’s so much more than everything the (in my opinion overrated) band Radiohead tries to be. Be warned: This is not an easy band to listen to. It is definitely not pop, and it takes effort to sit with it and let the feelings overtake you. But it is worth it.
Check it out.
Rivers-Sleeping States.
