I LIKE TO SLEEP - Sleeping Beauty (2022) [Hi-Res]

In 2021, the international contemporary music festival Only Connect commissioned an interpretation from I LIKE TO SLEEP of the first movement of Olivier Messiaen’s Turangalila symphony. A project which initially led to a 15-minute piece performed at the festival, with the trio re-writing the music of Messiaen, but also rewriting the music of their own. Messiaen as a reference and compositional tool may be heard in the album for those really listening for references. With “Sleeping Beauty” the trio also explore even heavier riffs than before, seasick grooves and tempi, and deeper ambient soundscapes. Through extensive improvisation, the effects and processing of the sounds are way more extreme than before, almost awakening the sleeping beauty. During the pandemic, the band also had to find new ways to write music without the presence of every member, introducing the vibe-samples from the old Mellotron sound gallery to the band.
“Infernal, scrotum-shrivelling energy sorely missing in today's music” said Record Collector about their previous album, mentioning King Crimson, Magma, Tony Williams Lifetime, electric Miles and 60s free energy jazz as possible references. But that’s only one side of the story, the dynamic range is wide and there are plenty of quieter moments at work here, like the solemn and pensive album closer "Don´t Wake The Sleeping Beauty".