Review Summary: nxt lvl doomgaze
Let’s be real for a moment: to those familiar with Iress’ music,
Sleep Now, In Reverse is highly unsurprising. For the past few years, the Californian outfit has been trading in doomgaze of a quality their peers could only dream of achieving, and this new album is no exception. It’s a deeply gorgeous if intimidating project, solidifying the band’s status as one of the most criminally overlooked ones active right now.
Building upon 2020’s
Flaw and last year’s all too brief
Solace, this new record presents ten more expansive glimpses into Iress’ world. It’s the kind of album where almost every song could work as an opening or closing track, with several jaw-dropping moments sprinkled all throughout. Cuts like “Mercy” follow a traditional formula of carefully working towards a grand, explosive climax, but the way it explores several textures prior to such expected payoffs feels consistently fresh. The understated “Lovely (Forget Me Not)’ adopts a driving rhythm that persists throughout its many meanderings, culminating in a hauntingly layered sonic implosion that feels like a true disintegration. Similarly, “The Remains” embodies classic Iress-isms with its gothic-tinged, sludgy gaze, before erupting into an unexpected and delightfully heavy breakdown - a moment that makes perfect sense in spite of its sudden appearance. The band’s ability to persistently mesmerise and deliver using the exact same ingredients is a true testament to their songwriting: everything is engaging, unique, and altogether captivating. Interestingly enough, album closer “Deep” might feel
least like an album closer of all songs present here, but earns its place in the context of overwhelming beauty: it’s a brief, pensive meditation on death that is almost scarily quiet.
It’s impossible to talk about Iress without mentioning Michelle Malley’s vocal performance. As always, her voice is captivating: strained without sounding uneasy, a perfect fit for the gloomy, heavy tones all around. Every ambiguous, haunting word sounds like an assurance of total eclipse, elevating the band’s eruptions straight into the darkness of outer space. Perhaps for the first time, though, the surrounding soundscape is matching Malley’s timbre in effectiveness. All throughout
Sleep Now, In Reverse, quiet parts feel tender and eerie, while heavier moments appear truly all-encompassing. “Ever Under” is a brilliant showcase of Iress’ enthralling guitar tones, while “Leviathan (The Fog)” exemplifies their ability to effortlessly conjure an ethereal atmosphere. The latter features some of the most wonderfully restrained instrumentation, and carefully navigates different, unique textures to achieve truly enthralling results.
While all the individual elements of
Sleep Now, In Reverse are excellent, it is Iress’ ability to bring it all together that makes this such a deeply excellent record. Its ten tracks are so much more than merely ten tracks: they epitomise an entrancing experience. Even though the band operate within some of the gloomiest genres around, this album is shockingly colourful. It explores tales of despair through excellent songwriting, tops everything off with production capable of taking expansive and restrained moments alike to the next level, and leaves before you know it. If
Flaw were an ocean,
Sleep Now, In Reverse embodies a mountain - beautiful if overwhelming from afar, yet lively and intricate upon closer inspection. Clouds loom, erupt and destroy, and we’re lucky to be mere spectators.
