THE SLEEPING SOULS
Thekla, Bristol
Talking creative honesty and community and performing alongside Frank Turner with Cahir O’Doherty from The Sleeping Souls.
Since the release of their first album Just Before the World Starts Burning, The Sleeping Souls have been hard at work to define themselves as their own, unique musical entity. We went to hear for ourselves, on a boat in Bristol, and spoke with lead vocalist and guitarist Cahir O’Doherty, on a bus.
NOBODY IS READING
As we discovered, being on the road with Frank Turner – the alternative folk-punk icon with which The Sleeping Souls are most heavily associated – makes the task of not only compiling, but performing an album, particularly difficult. But, as with most things that are hard to come by, the ephemeral nature of their January 2024 tour, as the band remain unsure of when they will have the time to perform the songs again, combined with their raw and ever-evolving sound makes for a completely different gig experience.
Just Before the World Starts Burning (2023) opens with adrenaline pumping, high-tempo tracks like ‘Scared of Living’ and ‘Caught Up in the Scrape’, before gently winding down into reflective, whispery, piano-heavy melodies like ‘Liar Lover’ and ‘Ceremony.’ This distinctive switch in tempo may reflect the band letting off initial steam – with a more Turner-esque series of opening tracks – on the way to finding their own voice, before slowly but confidently settling into the new sound of The Sleeping Souls. Here you can find glimpses of influence from Radiohead, Death Cab for Cutie, and Fugazi to name a few.
“Write for yourself. If you like it and you love it, write it, record it, put it out, play it live, enjoy it.”
TALK TO NOBODY - CAHIR O'DOHERTY
On stage, Cahir’s raw vocals, untouched guitars, and a touch of imperfection adds a layer of honesty that stands out in today's overproduced landscape.
As the audience, this provides excitement and inclusion, where a Sleeping Souls gig makes you feel part-and-parcel of testing and performing their sound, in real time. And as gigs are so often full of surprises – be it illness, time constraints, or something else – this layer of honesty creates an open community to overcome challenges for a unique experience, rather than over-polish and hide them behind a curtain.
Cahir spoke about the process of creating the album, which was a fragmented process of striving for cohesion, when faced with compiling a wide-ranging bank of musical parts. In other words, The Sleeping Souls is a collaborative and creative project in pursuit of personal satisfaction, rather than immediate recognition, which only brings a more distinctive character to their sound.
Fostering collaboration and creativity is also clear from how the band have welcomed support acts Hannah Rose Platt and Sean McGowan with open arms. As Cahir describes it himself, the tour is a ‘circus’ that resembles a community; the entire show tours together and everyone has their own designated role to keep the touring and creative cogs turning, again adding a distinctive character to the performance.
