Album/EP

Sleep Talk – Everything In Colour (Album Review)

Walladmin

Heavy Metal Wordsmith

/10

Apr 30, 2019

7 min read

Sleep Talk – Everything In Colour
Released: May 3^rd, 2019

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Everything In Colour has been a much-anticipated debut album from Adelaide boys Sleep Talk, and three years after their first EP we finally have it. There’s something immensely satisfying hearing a heavy band come out of the country town that is Adelaide, play at Big Sound 2018 and release an absolute quality album.

SA is known for its wine, Fringe Festival, Clipsal–sorry– Superloop Adelaide 500, and it’s ever growing music scene which cultivates bands like Sleep Talk and encourages others to tour in the city of churches. So, sink your teeth in.

The opening track ‘Lauritzen’ is abrasive. But not at first. At first, it’s melodic, well-paced and it warps slowly into a beast of a song with melodic tones under the raspy growls. The vocals aren’t overpowering and they hit a sweet spot somewhere between completely unintelligible and clear. As the first track, it sets the expectations high. Honestly, Sleep Talk surpass expectations constantly, keeping you guessing through the 11 tracks on Everything In Colour. After the opening track you can usually see what’s coming down the line, but not with this one.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXhurgdJsAA&w=640&h=360]

‘If I Die’ is more vocally driven with backing vocals creating an anthemic feel, and the guitars take a back-seat winding around the sweet and soft clean vocals. ‘Allergic To The World’ is a different kettle of fish entirely. Aggressive with classic metal chords and chugs, this song will be a favourite in a live setting, 100%. And then we have ‘New Tradition’, the first single released for the album, and it blends light instrumentation with heavy vocals and then switches it up completely. If there’s a catchier chorus around, it’s hard to think of it while this song plays.

Clean vocals are always going to be more accessible to a wider and more mainstream audience, but if you can’t take the time to sit and really take note of Jacob Clement’s growls and screams, you’re missing out on a host of emotion. And there’s not one song to pinpoint, but all of them have a piece of him. Of ‘Slowfade’ Jacob explains, “I wanted to write content that maybe to me, had a very specific meaning but was vague enough that people could interpret the lyrics how they deemed fit.”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WLsd77eqFA&w=560&h=315]

And the vocals do carry a lot of the melody and emotion here, but when you look at bands like Sleepmakeswaves and Plini, their instrumental music speaks absolute volumes. Sleep Talk have somehow tapped into that vein and have begun to develop that same talent for expression. But back to the tracks. They actually have a self-titled song ‘Sleep Talk’ which one would assume is an accumulation of everything they are. And since there are songs of varying influences and genres, this does mimic elements shown throughout the album so far with great building melodies and constant emotion through vocals. But I wouldn’t go as far as to say that this song represents the band entirely. After all that we finish with ‘Kill’. And it’s anthemic in a Hellions kind of way with swelling vocals and charged riffs. A big nod to this song, it’s just great. Just like the entire album.

Sleep Talk have created an album with ups and downs, moody songs and uplifting anthems. They have shown so much of themselves through these songs and yet you can still see past that to future possibilities. The road ahead is bright for these guys, keep your eyes on them.