Ahead of their UK headline tour kicking off on January 23, The Sleeping Souls are excited to present the official music video for “Scared of Living,” the latest single lifted from the band’s exhilarating debut album, Just Before The World Starts Burning (out now on Xtra Mile Recordings). A punk rock firecracker about the Orwellian, screen-dominated world we find ourselves living in, the “Scared of Living“ video comments on the cheap dopamine thrills we find ourselves seeking through virtually constructed realities. Flitting between slick video game-esque graphics and elegant real-world imagery, the Mihaly Sipos-directed video offers a stylish and thought-provoking companion to the track’s dystopian lyrical themes.
The band had the following to share about the song: “Living your life through cameras and apps isn’t living. Everyone is trying to live up to a version of themselves that doesn’t really exist in the real world, and you can’t have your own opinions for fear of being lambasted publicly. Even though we’ve moved forward technologically, old institutions still inform everything we do. We need to break free, but at what cost?”
Best known as Frank Turner’s loyal bandmates and dedicated road warriors, The Sleeping Souls recorded Just Before The World Starts Burning over the last three years between Turner’s rehearsal space in Oxford and Badlands studios in Ireland, resulting in 12 tracks that touch on numerous themes such as lost love, frustration, escapism, obsession, and personal family relations.
Including the anthemic single “Liar/Lover,” the highly-charged punk ripper “Caught Up In The Scrape,” “Rivals,” a loaded lament on the antagonistic pains felt between feuding families, and the introspective “Weathering The Storm,” Just Before The World Starts Burning was an album written mainly on the road that delivers scorching riffs, pounding drums and heavy downstrokes of guitar compounding the frenetic energy The Sleeping Souls are rightfully known for.
“It’s been a very collaborative experience with everyone bringing ideas and throwing them into the mixing pot,” vocalist/guitarist Cahir O’Doherty said. “Lyrically, the album touches on a few different subjects, but at its core, it’s about my relationship with my family. The process of writing and recording this album has been cathartic and helped me survive.”
Receiving praise from Devolution Magazine, the album was hailed for “its timeless quality, at once futuristic and familiar, it seems to emanate from some otherworldly dimension.” The Soundboard also hailed the album as “rollocking, windswept…an incredibly well put-together body of work.” Elsewhere, Punktastic praised Just Before The World Starts Burning as “an interesting, dreamlike record that shows there’s far more to The Sleeping Souls than matching suits and tape deck hearts,” and Noizze Mag agreed, calling the record ”a little bit of a magic.”
Marking the album’s release, The Sleeping Souls will be heading out on their first ever UK headline tour starting on January 23 with Sean McGowan and Hannah Rose Platt. The tour will mark The Sleeping Souls’ first live appearances outside of their usual day jobs of touring with Frank Turner. A full listing of dates can be found below.
The Sleeping Souls have toured alongside Frank Turner for over a decade, having previously recorded six studio albums with the punk icon, including 2022’s #1 album FTHC. They’ve headlined Wembley Arena, performed at the 2012 London Olympics, and played across the world many times over. Comprised of Tarrant Anderson (bass), Matt Nasir (piano), Callum Green (drums), Ben Lloyd (guitar) and vocalist/guitarist Cahir O’Doherty (Fighting With Wire, Jetplane Landing, New Pagans), the band has decided that now is the time to branch out with their own independent project and showcase.
The Sleeping Souls will be making the following headline appearances in the UK this month. Dates below with more to be added soon.
JANUARY
23 — Glasgow, UK — King Tuts *
24 — Nottingham UK — Rescue Rooms *
25 — Manchester, UK — Band On The Wall *
26 — Bristol, UK — Thekla *
27 — London, UK — The Garage *
* — with Sean McGowan, Hannah Rose Platt
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