Band: SORE EYELIDS
Genres: Punk / Shoegaze / Rock / Emo / Twinkle / Alternative / Ambient / Dreamo / Post-Rock / Post-HardcoreRelated artists: Suis La Lune and Heart On My Sleeve.
Country: SWEDEN
Years Active: 2009-present
Song: "Apart"
Album: "For Now"
Year: 2014
Label(s): Zegema Beach Records / Through Love Recs / Truelove Entertainment / Protagonist Records / Tokyo Jupiter Records / Tell Wilhelm Records / Fasaden Records / Serene Records
This post's artist is from the January 2014 Mix. This is track #12.
You can download: the January Mix#12 right here or get the new February 2015 Mix#1 here.
For fans of: Coldplay, Hum, (newer) Animal Faces, Suis La Lune, I Was Afraid, Trachimbrod, Ira, Stephen Brodsky, Cave In and Sigur Ros.
I'll start this off truthfully - I simply didn't quite get SORE EYELIDS the first time I heard them. How did I first hear about them? Well some may know I fucking love me some Trachimbrod and 2013 saw the two Swedish powerhouses cultivate a split 12" on Through Love Records. I jammed the shit outta that record and was a little perplexed on how I felt about SORE EYELIDS, on one hand I picked up immediately on the dreamy, melodic shoegaze and surrreal atmosphere created by the band, but on the other hand the eclectic mix of punk/rock/shoegaze/twinkle/post-hardcore didn't have me drooling.
Fast forward to the middle of 2014 when the band/Protagonist Records contacted me at Zegema Beach Records about releasing the new SORE EYELIDS 12"EP. I'll be honest, at first I was hesitant because I didn't feel like I "got" the band. Knowing what a rare opportunity something like this was, I sat, holed up in the corner of my home with the six songs that comprise the lengthy record. It took me about three goes before the vocal and instrumental blend finally took me to the heavens and showed me how to properly appreciate the band and their very unique sound. That sound? I'd say it's Coldplay if they became extremely interesting instrumentally with more somber, monotone vocals.
How did others take in SORE EYELIDS? Many seem to fall in love with them almost immediately, as the swirling and almost trippy guitars crave attention while majestically twirling, bouncing and permeating the listeners' eardrums. Songs such as "Next to Nothing" from the split and the tracks "Leaving", "Apart" and "Waste" from the 'For Now' EP are stellar examples of this, with some of the band's stronger vocals. I personally found the vocal evolution from the first, self-titled 12" to the split and EP to be pretty substantial. The slower tracks such as "Dissolve" (split) and "For Now" (EP) showcase some really awesome singing and engaging instrumental work, generally sounding like a very subdued Suis La Lune.
I guess we can probably make a quantum leap here and say that SORE EYELIDS are an amalgamation of Coldplay on speed and Suis La Lune on downers. Because I've spun the hell out of the 'For Now' concept EP, I want to quickly go into a bit more detail as the first two paragraphs may not have sold you on this band, as I was (for some reason) overly skeptical when I first heard the band as I am more of a screamy guy but can certainly appreciate the lighter stuff when I know what to expect.
'FOR NOW' 12" EP
1) "Remain" is an almost 3-minute long song that takes place in a dreamland of somber, twinkling caress, never quite picking up to full speed as it is just a single guitar and vocals that sound like they've dripped down from rain clouds.
2) "Leaving" jumps directly into the band's signature sound of nearly constant speed with an insane amount of melodic instrumental interplay/layering and those sweet, soaring vocals. Easily one of the best songs on the album. I love the guitar licks on this one that seem not to let up for the entirety of the song and culminate at 3:21 and the result is absolutely glorious.
3) "Apart" is the standout here, but not by much. Like the previous song, it weaves a masterful web of sprawling guitar-work from solos to jarring chords that sound like they are subtly testing the fabric of space time and trying to sneak into the fourth dimension. The singing is really good on this song and reaches some Sigur Ros pitches before the guitar/bass romp at 1:32 that drops into a spectacular time shift and epic space riff that melts me every time at the 1:54-mark and again at 3:50. Stunning.
4) "Waste" is the final fast song on the record and it seems fitting to close out the 3-song stretch of quickly paced material. It's probably the speediest of the bunch - at least at the beginning! The song blasts in with some awesome drums before quickly pulling back to a slower but much more expansive sound. The track then dips back and forth between the ambient and the aggressive like a skier weaving the slalom.
5) "For Now" is similar to the opening track but the vocals and song in general are a bit more inviting, as the air of closure and acceptance is displayed quite prominently. This song includes drums and bass, while the first track does not.
6) "En Plats I Ditt Hjärta" closes the 26-minute EP and does so in epic fashion. Clocking in at nearly 7 minutes this song includes some acoustic guitars mixed in for extra flavour; bass solos, dreamy bits, catchy as hell axes, pounding drums and those patented soaring vocals that teeter on emotional tears. I love the acoustic break (almost like a breakdown) at 2:07 that helps spin the song back around in a 180 and leads it back to the start. Another great thing about this track are the vocals that extend into a new realm for the band, as they reach a near-breaking point as the singer is obviously feeling some parts of the song which, in turn, influence me to do the same. "En Plats I Ditt Hjärta" exits like the fading steps of a lover walking away in the snow, soft and distant but audible nonetheless.
As for the first SORE EYELIDS album, some quick thoughts:
-"I Wish I Could Believin' You" has some very frantic-yet-melodic instrumental work that is both spazzy and dreamy simultaneously
-"Can't Breathe" injects more melody and less chaos with much stronger vocals
-"Over" sounds like Ira
"Heart Like a Wishing Well" has great lyrics "23 wasted years. Might as well waste it all."
-"Du Har Glömt Mej" is a good song, but suffers from pretty weak lyrics that the band has since improved upon
-"Capri 2007" is a really cool song that hints at Hum at the very beginning
Although the genre itself took me some time to get used to, I can definitely say that SORE EYELIDS is the dreamy, post-hardcore, shoegaze band.
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DISCOGRAPHY
2009 - Sore Eyelids demo cassetteEP
2012 - Sore Eyelids 12"LP (stream here)
2013 - Trachimbrod split 12"EP (stream here)
2014 - For Now 12"EP (stream here) and (buy here)
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(2014) SORE EYELIDS - "Apart" (from 'For Now')
(2014) SORE EYELIDS - "Leaving" (from 'For Now')
(2014) SORE EYELIDS - "Waste" (from 'For Now')
(2013) SORE EYELIDS - "Dissolve" (from 'Trachimbrod' split)
(2013) SORE EYELIDS - "Next to Nothing" (from 'Trachimbrod' split)
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SORE EYELIDS additional links
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