It’s a grey, wet early morning in the city of Sydney, and this seems like the most idyllic soundtrack for this moment. ‘Sleeps In Oysters’ deliver under-stated, lowercase folk from their home in Berkshire (England). They’ve played recently with Efterklang, Leafcutter John and A Hawk And A Hacksaw – three distinctly different avenues of sound, although as a combination, the aggregated flavour does indeed give you a fair impression of the territory that Sleeps In Oysters are seeking to stake.
After a good 60 seconds of concrete insect chatter, ‘Moths Wings For John’ flows into a mourning one-note journey around the scale, with scattered wasp samples flicking around the ether and Lisa Busby’s vocal draped elegantly on top. ‘Sea Flowers Blossom’ (from the Luv Sound compilation ‘Summer Gate’) follows a similar pace with John Harries on solo accordian, dripping water & miniature bleeps locked together in tiny combat, and Busby’s vocals layered on top of one another to create a quiet, understated pean to the ocean.
Their debut release (via Seed Records), the succinctly titled “‘We Kept The Memories Locked Away Like The Beetles Of Our Childhood -Or- How To Appreciate Someone That Is Always Around” is available on limited CD with ” 5 bespoke postcards parcelled in paper, tied with string and sealed with wax, housed in handmade fabric sleeves, lovingly embroidered and individually numbered.” Quite. A less prosaic version of the release is available via bleep.com from November 24.
Sleeps In Oysters – Moths Wings For John | mp3
Sleeps In Oysters – Sea Flowers Blossom | mp3