Album Review: “Covers, Vol. 3” by Sleeping At Last
May 15, 2020
For artists like Adele and Rihanna fans seemingly have to wait long periods of time in between music releases, which only builds the anticipation. With Sleeping At Last, fans rarely have a drought in between releases. Having released 8 album and countless singles since 2015, the Chicago-based band astounds fans with their unprecedented non-stop creativity. Following the release of the first four major projects, bassist Dan Perdue and drummer Chad O’Neal left the band to pursue other interests, but Chad’s brother Ryan – the lead singer and guitarist for the group – continued to make music while still utilizing the band’s already recognizable name.
Commonly heard as the background music on shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and Criminal Minds, Sleeping At Last’s cover albums have made them a household name, with iconic emo renditions of classics like The Proclaimer’s “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)”, Willie Nelson’s “Rainbow Connection”, and Snow Patrol’s “Chasing Cars”. In this blog post we will be looking at some of their covers from their 2020 release “Covers, Vol. 3”. Their newest release, “Astronomy, Vol. 1” was released after this article was written, further evidencing Sleeping At Last’s frequency of production.
“10,000 Miles” by Mary Chapin Carpenter, which was featured in the movie “Fly Away Home”, begins the album and keeps the same emotion but drives in the lane right beside the original in terms of sound. Sleeping At Last’s cover almost sounds like it could be in Michael Giacchino’s soundtrack for Disney-Pixar’s “Inside Out”. A good cover makes the song unique to the one covering but keeps some of the original elements and Sleeping At Last begins their album doing so in iconic fashion with this muse from 1989.
Arguably the most noticeably different from the original song on the album of covers is “Young Folks” performed originally by Peter Bjorn and John. The original is rcognizable from its popular usage in commercials and easily memorized whistling but Sleeping At Last’s cover strips away some of the most memorable parts and puts its own emotional spin on things. Taking a slowed down approach to Wet Wet Wet’s “Love Is All Around”, Sleeping At Last explores music from multiple decades, taking the 1994 hit and turning it into the type of song you want to cry in the car to. Covering female artists Tegan and Sara, “Where Does The Good Go” on the album is completely reimagined from the rhythm to the core sound. Sleeping At Last could probably take the most joyous song in the word and make it sad for the listener, which is sometimes welcomed depending on the season of life.
Ending with a somehow even more heart wrenching version of “Amazing Grace”, Sleeping At Last ends on a theologically-rich high note that reminds listeners of not only Sleeping At Last’s roots in Christianity but also the beautiful truth of the grace that was poured out for us, the wretches. As the lyrics say, “When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we first begun” which thrills me for multiple reasons – we will be in awe of our Lord and Savior, eternally singing praises that will never run out, but as a little side bonus I know that Sleeping At Last will be there alongside me, which judging from their melodious sound, makes me anticipate the glorious choir’s harmonies even more.
Written by: Landen Swain
Landen believes the human experience longs to be expressed; through our art, our labor, our songs, our storytelling. As a published playwright, author, and poet, he enjoys expressing his little chapter of the human experience through his writings and is thankful that the SA blog allows him to do that. He is published in numerous magazines, literary journals, and has several plays published by Off the Wall Plays, an online play publishing house.