Andy Fleet - The Sleepless Kind (2020)

The Sleepless Kind is the long overdue third studio album from piano man Andy Fleet and once again features his trusted sideman Andre Canniere on trumpet showing just how much his playing has become an integral part of Andy’s nocturnal sound.

Blending jazz, blues, rock and classical influences, The Sleepless Kind is an ode to the night and recounts tales of the of sticky lights of Soho in the small hours, of the break-up blues and of troubled nights reducing you to paranoia whilst the owl watches over from his perch…before he is gone…long gone.

This collection is book-ended by the beautifully haunting title theme in two parts but at the album’s core is Through Closed Eyes, the story behind the owl perched overlooking the city on the conceptual album cover by Alban Low. Been There Drunk That does what it says on the tin whilst The Hobbyist and Stolen Years are moving tributes to a late friend and John Lennon respectively.

Recorded over two years and featuring Zane Maertens on bass guitar and Joe Evans on drums along with a number of additional musicians, The Sleepless Kind is a startlingly accomplished and cohesive work.