London alt-pop project Where We Sleep presents ‘Control’ featuring Ben Pritchard, formerly of The Fall (and currently in Manc Floyd), on guitar. This track is off the debut five-track EP ‘Experiments In The Dark’, which released on May 31. The accompanying video was created by Gemma Birss and Beth Rettig and stars Nishad Kala.
Where We Sleep is the solo project of Beth Rettig, perhaps best known as vocalist of Blindness. This initiative has been her main focal point since their dissolution.
“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.
This EP also features contributions from Axel Ray of United Ghosts (and also The Black Windmill and Cadet A) and renowned guitarist Debbie Smith of Echobelly, Curve and SPC ECO fame on ‘Into The Light’. 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.
Dark and rough around the edges, ‘Experiments in The Dark’ combines synth and live elements, recorded in studios between London and Manchester. This follows up the first Where We Sleep’s single ‘The First One’, released in August 2018, preceded by their debut single ‘Veins’ in June 2018, which also featured 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.
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.
‘Experiments In The Dark’ is now available across digital stores and streaming platforms, as well as Where We Sleep’s own 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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