…Are you asleep?
Wake up now….
Are you asleep, the lead single from the soon-to-be-released album The Speed of Time by home-recording auteur and all round good egg Arthur Alligood is a fizzing, fuzzy blast from start to finish – vocals deliberately distorted to match the relentless thrum of the playfully savage guitar work out. Yes… yes… and more yes please! It hits you around the chops and leaves you delightfully reeling and when that solo kicks in at the mid-point you can’t help but smile – joyfully, filthily magnificent stuff. As ever though, there’s purpose behind this potency- with lyrics less of a call to wake up and dance- and more a plea to question humanity’s impact on a fragile world.
It’s an intriguing and oft-surprising entry point to an album that is set to delight upon its release next month. Sparklehorse’s Pig seems a sonic cousin in the close-mic froth that’s created – programmed drums ticking on indefatigably in the background and subtle keys filling the spaces in the wall of sound summoned to pound the senses. The co-production of Nick Webber provides a delightful balance of precision and joyful freedom throughout. I’m reminded of when John Parish took on production duties for Souljacker-era Eels, where E and he forged a bond over a delight in sounds that sounded like the tape deck had broken. Here a new-found blast of sound has been unleashed – confident, clear, and set to take phoneswithchords out of the bedroom and into the stratosphere…
I’ve been lucky to already lend an ear to the whole album and rest assured you are in for a treat as far as that’s concerned. Until then, Are You Asleep? should have more than enough to rouse even the most catatonic creature from their slumber. Wake up and take notice!
Written by M. A Welsh (Misophone)