From the ashes of London indie pop outfit Blindness comes the dark and dynamic alt-rock project Where We Sleep. The debut EP ‘Experiments In The Dark’ releases on May 31. Ahead of this, the present ‘Into The Light’, which features Debbie Smith of Echobelly, Curve and SPC ECO fame on guitar. Smith was also in Blindness and is part of the trio Snowpony with My Bloody Valentine’s Debbie Googe and Moonshake’s Katharine Gifford.
“Into The Light was inspired by a lot of voices that have shone through the dark for me in the last couple of years and I hope that it can play a small part in paying that forward. I could have gotten very carried away weaving Debbie’s filthy guitars around the bassline in this track. She always gives me loads of material to play with which sends me down a rabbit hole of chopping, reversing, time-stretching and adding effects,” says Beth Rettig.
With Beth Rettig at the helm for Where We Sleep, this release offers five rich tracks involving several notable collaborations. Apart from Debbie Smith, this project also features Ben Pritchard, formerly of The Fall (and currently in Manc Floyd) and Axel Ray of United Ghosts (and also The Black Windmill and Cadet A).
Dark and rough around the edges, this EP combines synth and live elements. This release also features contributions from Ben Pritchard, formerly of The Fall and currently in Manc Floyd, and former Blindness bandmate Debbie Smith of Curve, Echobelly and SPC ECO fame (and also Snowpony with My Bloody Valentine’s Debbie Googe and Moonshake’s Katharine Gifford).
‘Experiments In The Dark’ is a five-track offering, recorded in studios between London and Manchester. This follows up Where We Sleep’s single ‘The First One’, released in August 2018, preceded by Where We Sleep’s debut single ‘Veins’ in June 2018, also featuring Debbie Smith, and b-side ‘Crawl’, mixed in Addis Ababa by Guy Fixsen.
Raised in Africa (Nigeria, Botswana and South Africa) and saying goodbye to the days of her Johannesburg band High, Beth Rettig returned to the UK in 2000 and eventually hooked up with Debbie Smith to form Blindness. They had a good run until playing their final gig in 2016, followed by ‘The Monsoon EP’ in 2007, their final release.
“When Blindness ended – solely down to a change in my personal life – I didn’t know if I was going to write again. Where We Sleep is the result of discovering that you don’t know how not to make music,” says Beth Rettig.
Rettig’s music is rooted in an array of influences, including Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Curve, EMA, Nine Inch Nails, Jesus and Mary Chain, Garbage, Kate Bush, Massive Attack, Patti Smith, PJ Harvey, Pete International Airport, White Rose Movement and The Fall.
About ‘The Desert’ video, Rettig explains, “The road footage in The Desert video was taken when Axel and myself took a road trip to the Mojave Desert in California, with trips to Pioneertown and Joshua Tree National Park. It seemed a shame not to use those visuals, albeit affected, for the song. As the song came first, it was a cool realisation that two people who did a song about driving through the desert together, were taking a road trip through the desert together.”
‘Experiments In The Dark’ is slated for release on May 31 and will be available across digital stores and streaming platforms. It can also be pre-ordered via Where We Sleep’s own Bandcamp site.
FOR SHARING
Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/
Bandcamp order https://wherewesleep.bandcamp.
CREDITS
Music and performance by Where We Sleep
Lyrics by Beth Rettig
Beth Rettig – vocals and instruments
Debbie Smith – guitars on ‘Into The Light’
Ben Pritchard – lead guitars on ‘Control’
Axel Ray – lead guitars on ‘The Desert’
Mixing and Mastering by John Cranmer
Video by Beth Rettig and Axel Ray
Dark photos by Nando Carniel Machado. Light photos by Beth Rettig
TRACK LIST
1. What I Deserve
2. The Desert
3. Control
4. Into The Light
5. Experiments In The Dark
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