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Sleeping At Last
Storyboards
Artist Info: Discography
Album length: 11 tracks
Street Date: September 15, 2009
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Things have changed for the Chicago natives
Sleeping At Last since their last album, Keep No
Score. First, the personnel has changed from a
trio to a duo with the departure of drummer Chad
O'Neal, leaving behind brother Ryan and bassist
Dan Perdue. Secondly, (and more than likely
influenced by the first) the pair has
significantly altered their musical direction for
the band’s latest album, Storyboards.
Although over the course of their ten-plus year
career Sleeping At Last never would have been
considered a rock band, the band offered some
rather up-beat tracks like “Say” and “The Night
Must End” on their second release, Ghosts. And
while the tone of Keep No Score was lighter than
Ghosts, the tempo on Storyboards completely drops
off the table giving the album a more ambient and folk-fueled tilt.
Sleeping At Last’s organic, indie rock sound is
intricately powered by stringed instruments
varying from guitars, cellos, and violins in
addition to the album’s piano foundation. The
ukulele also plays a central role in the first
melodic track, “Porcelain,” and “Slow And
Steady.” Often, Sleeping At Last offers an
innovative fusion of acoustic instruments and
soft vocals; particularly in the case of diverse,
upbeat “Timelapse,” and “Unmade” which both
feature a terrific emotional vocal output by Ryan
O'Neal. Even though the dreamy, piano-driven tune
makes “Chandeliers” the best all around ballad on
the album, almost every track is well rounded
out. Musically, the most distinguished song is
“Clockwork” which includes a buoyant, classical
orchestra which conflicts with O'Neal’s mainly
melancholy vocals, throwing the intended tone into
flux. The impressive “Green Screens” also
incorporates some similar elements of
“Clockwork’s” orchestra, but, while it isn’t as
dominant, the background music sparks an
impressive final stanza. While the album has few
weak tracks, the project does have a couple
ballads (“All This To Say” and “Naďve”), which may
prompt the listener to press skip.
Although O’Neal offers his songs up for
interpretation, some themes on Storyboards are
quite obvious. For example, the singer clearly
observes God’s creation in awe on “Timelapse” and
“Side By Side” (the former states “every
constellation/is a fraction of God's DNA /that we
were made to notice and navigate”). Other tracks
are a bit more ambiguous as Sleeping At Last
explores the fears and challenges that face us.
The singer on “Birdcage Religion” admits his
futility and need for a higher power to save him,
while “Clockwork” longs for a new heaven and
earth without the entropy which hinders our own
planet. Also, the band seemingly drops warnings
of a man-centered Christianity on both “Naďve” and “Unmade.”
There are not an abundance of choruses on
Storyboards and even fewer rhymes, but existence
of beautiful, flowing melodies overshadow both.
Although there is no need to separate the two,
after you dig down, the honest but intricate
lyrics are definitely a substantial appealing
factor. It’s not hard to understand fans who
might desire a more indie rock-fueled Sleeping At
Last. However, the band members are almost certainly
better musicians for undergoing the acoustic
slanted project, and fans are similarly better off with this brilliant album.
- Review date: 1/11/10, written by Nathaniel Schexnayder of Jesusfreakhideout.com
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 Record Label: None
Album length: 11 tracks
Street Date: September 15, 2009
Buy It: iTunes
Buy It: Amazon.com
- Porcelain (4:01)
- Chandeliers (3:57)
- Naive (3:51)
- Side By Side (3:23)
- Slow & Steady (4:14)
- Clockwork (4:00)
- Unmade (3:36)
- Timelapse (3:49)
- Birdcage Religion (3:56)
- Green Screens (3:31)
- All This To Say (3:33
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