The Sleeping Souls Share Debut Album 'Just Before The World Starts Burning'

THE SLEEPING SOULS - release their exhilarating debut album ‘Just Before The World Starts Burning' on Xtra Mile Recordings.

12 Brand new songs, the album features standout track “Scared Of Living”, also released today.

Laced with spiralling riffs and highly charged vocals, “Scared Of Living” is a punk-rock firecracker which illuminates the vibrant, vital quality of the album from which it is taken. A song about this Orwellian world we find ourselves living in, it finds a band dwelling on how the age of the internet is directly impacting who we are. As The Sleeping Souls explain:

““Living your life through cameras and apps isn't living. Everyone is trying to live up to a version of themselves that doesn't really exist in the real world, and you can't have your own opinions for fear of being lambasted publicly. Even though we've moved forward technologically, old institutions still inform everything we do. We need to break free, but at what cost”

“Scared Of Living” sits alongside totemic tracks including lead single “Liar/Lover”, the highly charged polito-punk follow-up “Caught Up In The Scrape”, explosively antagonistic “Rivals” as well as most recent offering “Weathering The Storm”; all of which can be found on ‘Just Before The World Starts Burning'.

Streaming everywhere now (via Xtra Mile Recordings), ‘Just Before The World Starts Burning' was recorded over the last 3 years between Frank Turner's rehearsal space in Oxford and Badlands studios in Ireland.

Its 12 varied tracks take their cues from a wild array of influences, from the explorative post/rock sounds of Radiohead or Death Cab For Cutie, to the tempestuous punk thrashings of Plosivs and Hot Snakes, to the introspective alt/folk of the Elliot Smith and Ryan Adams canons. Speaking about the process of making the album, Cahir of The Sleeping Souls says:

“It's been a very collaborative experience with everyone bringing ideas and throwing them into the mixing pot… Lyrically the album touches on a few different subjects - lost love, frustration, escapism and obsession - but at its core it's about my relationship with my family. The process of writing and recording this album has been cathartic and helped me survive.”

Receiving early praise from Devolution Magazine, the album was praised for “its timeless quality, at once futuristic and familiar, it seems to emanate from some otherworldly dimension”; whereas The Soundboard championed The Sleeping Souls debut as “rollocking, windswept…an incredibly well put-together body of work”.

To celebrate the album's release, The Sleeping Souls will be heading out on their first ever UK headline tour in January 2024, accompanied by co-headliner Sean McGowan + his full band, plus support from Hannah Rose Platt. The tour will mark The Sleeping Souls' first live appearances outside of their usual day jobs of touring with Frank Turner. Tickets are on sale now here, and full dates and details can be found below.

THE SLEEPING SOULS UK TOUR 2024

JANUARY
23 GLASGOW King Tuts
24 NOTTINGHAM Rescue Rooms
25 MANCHESTER Band On The Wall
26 BRISTOL Thekla
27 LONDON The Garage

Tickets on sale now below.

The Sleeping Souls have toured alongside Frank Turner for over a decade, having previously recorded six studio albums with the punk icon, including 2022 #1 ‘FTHC'. They've headlined Wembley Arena, performed at the 2012 London Olympics and played across the world many times over.

The Sleeping Souls comprise Tarrant Anderson (bass), Matt Nasir (piano), Callum Green (drums), Ben Lloyd (guitar). They are joined by fellow road warrior  Cahir O'Doherty  (Fighting With Wire, Jetplane Landing and currently New Pagans) who has filled in previously for Frank on guitar, as well as Tarrant and Ben at different times. The band decided now was time to branch out with their own independent project, and debut album ‘Just Before The World Starts Burning' is out now.

Photo Credit Lukas Rauch

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