Sleeping Me
Cradlesongs
Hidden Shoal Recordings

Sleeping Me is the Californian ambient guitarist Clayton McEvoy. Cradelsongs is this debut album. And the album is in a way living up to it's title.

Yet the band name and album title, it still feels somewhat ironic that every time I have put this record on I have gotten sleepy. Not in that good laid back way, but in the way you get when you can't sleep out of fear of the dark, but still want to close your tired eyes.

Cradelsongs delivers soundscapes that is by all means elegant and beautiful, being this shoegazing ambient. Or more correctly; instrumental introvert guitar based slow dreamy ambient. But there is a disturbed suppressed feeling in all the pretty tones. Like the idyllic soundscapes conceal the most terrible entity. And I keep waiting for the noise that never comes.

On the other hand, I shouldn't have been surprised about the dark, lurking emotions that unfolds on every track here, when the songs have names like "Empty Cradels", "Tired Hearts" and "The Rattle In Our Throats". The latter a wistful dark-blue closure of this unpleasant, but elegant album.

Copyright © 2009 Aslaug O Klausen