Kelly Wingate

Item: Are You Sleeping, Love?
Author: Ken Mueller

Are You Sleeping, Love?

(2000)

Reviewed by Ken Mueller

Discogs Bandcamp

Label independentThe Phantom Tollbooth2001

dream pop indie rock shoegaze slowcore

First off, Kelly Wingate is a band, not a person. And their latest release, Are You Sleeping, Love? is bound to be one of the sleepers of the year. The CD, which was released late last year, will appeal to fans of bands like Low, Red House Painters, and even some of Jeff Buckley's work. Stylistically, it can probably best be defined as acoustic dream pop, a genre that is sometimes referred to as "slo-core" or "shoegazer" music. But no matter what you call it, this is one fine CD.

At first listen, I really liked it...a lot. But the more I listened, the more I fell in love with the band's sound, which while simple at times is not simplistic. The band, hailing from Mississippi, has the duo of Trent Dabbs and Jonathan Shull at its core, with Dabbs handling the lead vocals. His voice is dreamy and melancholy all at once, and quite a pleasure to listen to. Rounding out the band are Joey Pensak on drums, Adam White on bass, and Lizzie Perry, whose violin work adds an important element to the band's work. A few other musicians pop up on the album including producer Neilson Hubbard and mixer Clay Jones.

The album starts off with a bang with the song "Stand Apart." Like most of the album, these are songs of love lost, love found, love unrequited...and in some cases you're not sure which is which. The singer is constantly looking inward, and at times the results are melancholy. The song "Quilt" explores the issue of morality and especially the comfort in knowing one's place in eternity.

At times the songs seem to take a fresh look at what some might assume to be the mundane elements of everyday life. A case in point is "Photograph" in which the singer is haunted by a woman he spots in the background of a photograph. There is no clue as to what the main subject of the photograph is, but he spots the girl and intones "The girl in the back of the photograph, who is she? There's a smile in the back of the photograph, it's killing me."

The most "electric" of the songs on the album, "Thousand Circles," is perhaps one of the most enjoyable. With its layered guitars and heavier drums, the song draws you in and has you tapping your toes. It is a song that from first listen sounds familiar, yet it doesn't remind you of any other specific songs.

Another glimpse of the issue of mortality and eternity comes in "Last Lullaby," the song from which the CD gets its title. The singer is faced with the death of a very dear loved one:

Are you sleeping, love?
Lifeless and staring into space
I can see the healing now, spread across your face

Followed by the refrain of "Is it time to go? Is it time to go home?" which by the end of the song has become "It says it's time to go, must be time to go home."

The issue of how we often bottle up our emotions inside, and separate our public selves from our private selves is explored in "Outside." The girl in the song is struggling with inner pain, but "She's got everything together, walking with a smile for the camera. She'd never wanna make you cry," and later "She's not lying to anyone, just herself."

Kelly Wingate is a band that could, and should, be on the verge of something bigger. It would be a shame if more people didn't get a chance to hear this disc.

4.5 tocks