FFO: The Staves, Eliott Smith, Secret Sisters, Fleet Foxes, Mountain Man
“Something Sleeps are a mesmerising live act, encapsulating traditional storytelling with glorious harmonies and innovative arrangements”
– Soho Radio
London-based dreamfolk project Something Sleeps released their self-titled debut album on Friday 6 September 2024 via Cuculi Records. It’s a new collaboration between old friends and stalwart songwriters Fiona Fey and Rey Yusuf (formerly of Tell Tale Tusk), joined by violinist Monica Viñoly and cellist Josh Considine. Something Sleeps is a captivating 11-track album of original songs written by Fey & Yusuf alongside traditional songs reimagined with shrewdly updated lyrics, resulting in a satisfying juxtaposition of sublime folk musicianship, intimate storytelling, and uncompromising political candour. With their flair for emotive melodies and pithy lyrics, Something Sleeps are undoubtedly writing contemporary contributions to the classic folksong canon, while embodying the same self-defining DIY attitude of their peers from Cuculi Records and the wider UK alt-folk scene.
The band’s exquisite and arresting vocal harmonies are the heart of the record; throughout the album, layers of double-tracked voices meld and soar above panned guitar fingerpicking and interwoven string lines, suggesting a subtle 60s feel with a distinctly modern edge. Second single ‘Bonny Boy’ is a sensitive rework of a traditional song which unfolds into an original jig; Fey and Yusuf explain that they adapted the lyrics so the gender of Bonny Boy’s new love is unspecified “as we didn’t want to be heteronormative. We’ve also made the broken-hearted narrator emotionally mature, accepting that it’s over and not wishing them any ill despite the sadness, rather than being bitter and angry. It’s less dramatic, but it’s more in line with our outlook.”
The strength of their ensemble singing is evident in moments such as their seamless a cappella arrangement of ‘¡Ay, Bajamar!’, a traditional Tenerifan folksong that praises the beauty of a little town by the sea. Elsewhere, such as on ‘Colour Song’, they’ve augmented their usual acoustic setup by experimenting with gently shimmering synths and electronics. The result is a kind of sonic prism, illuminating the pathos of the lyrics. Yusuf says: “I particularly love the production on ‘Two Degrees’; it was the first track that Fi added some dreamy synths to, and that made us realise we wanted to take the album in that direction.” The song is a sharp yet tender expression of climate grief; Fey explains that she ‘feels impotent – we’ve done all the shouting we can, and instead of listening to us, the corporations haven’t changed what they’re doing. They’ve just taken greenwashing and environmentalism as part of their marketing. There’s a hopeful ending – we’ve still got time – but really we’ve only got time if we act now. It’s a call to action, almost begging.”
They take a more strident tone on their version of ‘Company Bosses (I Hate The Capitalist System)’ by Sarah Ogan Gunning. As Fi explains, “it’s still so important, still so relevant. So many people are working in extreme slavery-like conditions, with children dying for the greed of the system, for the greed of having too many things we don’t need. It’s our constant need to keep digging and digging, taking away the earth’s resources to make things that we already have millions of.” Similarly, Yusuf was inspired to write the quietly defiant song ‘Train’ after watching an interview with FKA Twigs, who was asked why she didn’t leave an abusive relationship; as Fey points out, “when something bad happens, women are so often asked what they could have done to mitigate the situation.” Yusuf adds: “We’re just saying ‘no’, we’re not taking that anymore” – powerful words which they repeat in the chorus of the song.
Their songs of social commentary are paired with intimate portraits from their personal lives, including lead single ‘Fishes’ which poetically describes Yusuf’s experience during a debilitating period of OCD and her isolation from outer life. They also bring their own long friendship to the fore in ‘Tree’. Fey explains that “during lockdown, Rey & I hadn’t seen each other for a long time, and both wrote a song at the same time about how much we’d missed each other, especially singing with one another. It was really strange. And it’s really romantic – we want to show that romance isn’t just for sexual relationships, it’s an important part of our relationship as a platonic couple.”
Cuculi Records 