Sleep ∞ Over: Forever - Album Review

Sleep ∞ Over
Forever
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

Formerly a trio, Austin, Texas' Sleep ∞ Over is now down to one member, Stefanie Franciotti, who firmly states she is in the witch house genre (which is still to me the dumbest name for a genre), but really sounds more like a shoegaze/dream pop hybrid. The tracks on her debut album Forever go back and forth between gauzy electronic pop songs and rather polarizing instrumentals that are long on atmosphere and menace, but short on adding anything to the mix. There is a classic EP here if you jettisoned the instrumentals, which I suppose are meant to add juxtaposition and texture to the overtly hazy feel of the record, but they are so jarring it takes away from the flow and pacing of the record. Why she would choose to make so many abrupt transitions between the song-oriented material is beyond me, as there is little to no connection between the two, ultimately turning what could have been a great album into a positively frustrating one.

The intro instrumental "Behind Closed Doors" is the only really fitting one on the album. Droning, yet shimmering, it sets the tone for the gorgeous "Romantic Streams," which features overlapping synth melodies over echoing drum beats and spacey Eno-esque ambient washes of electronics. Franciotti's voice lovely and fragile, evoking Victoria Legrand of Beach House.



After the beauty of "Romantic Streams" comes the harsh, thunderous instrumental "Porcelain Hands" which immediately takes you out of your reverie. Thankfully it is short-lived and "The Heavens Turn By Themselves" flows in on dubby percussion and angelic choirs of synthesizers and delicate treated guitars.



First single, "Casual Diamonds" takes Franciotti's voice front and center, shadowing it with tons of echo, moving the sound towards a more shoegaze territory with lots of flanged guitars and buzzy drones.



Again, though, the beauty of the track is spoiled by the following track "Cryingame" which trades gauziness in for 60s style electronic bloops and bleeps and rumbling bass; which thankfully moves into the more propulsive and dreamy "Flying Saucers Are Real" which multi-tracks Franciotti's vocals into a heavenly chorus amid pillows of synths, stark pianos, and woozy percussion.



"Stickers" takes what sounds like the drum programming from Billy Idol's "Eyes Without A Face" and pairs it will sparkly keyboards and pillow soft vocals.



And closer "Don't Poison Everything" starts off like one of her atonal instrumentals, but slowly turns into an almost electronic sounding Dead Can Dance track.



Forever shows a lot of promise from Franciotti, as long as she sticks to her strengths, which is the more song-oriented, dream pop songs. Her forays into harsh, electronic instrumentals may make more sense as a side project, as they, while having merit on their own, only choose to alienate the listener from the beauty of the other tracks.

Rating Guide:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.