An enveloping new album from British pianist and composer Mark Springer, Sleep of Reason showcases a beautiful classical sound within its three major pieces: an opus for solo piano, a string quartet, and a quintet for voice and strings. The vocals and lyrics come enjoyably via Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant. His familiarly inviting and melodic presence the Sacconi String Quartet’s lovely infusions, intertwining to result in something that’s fondly foreboding and introspective — delivering modern insights on 21st century culture and its knack for social media rampancy, social division, and ego-driven showmanship. The album that delights in its darkly atmospheric charms and poignantly grim thematic hold.
Opening the album, “Phantoms and Monsters” exudes a weeping string presence as Tennant vocals admit to falling “into a deep sleep of reason.” “Violence, ambition, greed… and then I woke up,” he signals to a momentary silence, then traversing into a range of both plucky and multi-layered strings; it makes for a fittingly contemplative opening track for an album inspired by a series of etchings from Spanish artist Francisco Goya — with Sleep of Reason also capturing “monsters” and “devilments” of its own era.
Another standout, “Truth is For Losers” infuses melancholic strings within Tennant’s lyrical insight — likely a swipe at a contemporary society that has a tendency for easily digestible falsehoods as opposed to harsh truths. The perspectives of modern relationships, and the pining for digital acceptance, seems to emanate within “My Friend the Monster” and its radiant swell of strings — escalating and falling back down with enjoyable precision. Several instrumental string quartet pieces follow, then giving way to solo piano pieces that conclude the album with gorgeously vibrant yet emotively impactful entrancement. Sleep of Reason is a fantastic showcase from Springer, Tennant, and the Sacconi String Quartet.
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“Phantoms and Monsters” and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
