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This product is a Pre Order and is scheduled to be released 29th November 2024

This product is available on preorder with a limited discounted price.

Sorrow - Sleep Now Forever

$39.00

This product is available on pre order with a limited discounted price.

Happy Birthday, Rose. To celebrate our friend Rose McDowall’s birthday, we’re announcing a full reissue of her second album with Sorrow, Sleep Now Forever. For the first time, this masterpiece of elgaic, slow-burn beauty will be available digitally and on CD for the first time in 25 years.

Sleep Now Forever is the second and final album released by Sorrow, the post-Strawberry Switchblade group fronted by singer Rose McDowall. Originally released in 1999 and long since deleted it is a cornucopia of pastoral, elegiac folk music, swirling atmospherics, hymnal compositions and above it all the alternating towering and fragile vocal performances of McDowall. Recorded in the late 90s with fellow band member and co-songwriter Robert Lee, Sleep Now Forever is the definitive statement by the now defunct group and Rose McDowall’s most complete long-form work to date.
 
Released through the group’s own Piski Disk Records, Sleep Now Forever was distributed by World Serpent which struggled through the early 2000s with financial woes, eventually folding due to bankruptcy in 2004. Due to the company’s troubles, Sleep Now Forever was never distributed widely and was a victim of the company’s failure. Released on CD only, original copies are now rare and only traded on second hand channels. Remastered by Mikey Young for a limited vinyl release, Sleep Now Forever will be released on April 20th on double vinyl format, with one side an exclusive etching by Glasgow artist Holly Allan.

Despite its rarity, Sleep Now Forever enjoys a firm cult following. The album’s textures are expansive, lush, deliciously detailed and celestial. Recorded in home study Velvet Hole by Rose McDowall and then-husband Robert Lee, the album enlists an array of players from the underground Neo-folk / industrial scene: Nigel McKernaghan (Uilleann pipes, Whistles), Susan Franknel (Bassoon), John Contreras (Cello) and Lawrence Frankel (Oboe, Cor Anglais). The eleven songs here revolve around McDowall’s instantly recognisable voice. Brought up singing in the Catholic Church, McDowall’s vocals are impeccable and angelic, particularly on tracks like Turn Off The Light where her experiences with religion are canted over soaring oboe and guitar backing. By far the most evolved and realised version of Sorrow’s vision, it feels somewhat criminal that music this beautiful could be lost to time until now.
 
McDowall’s lyrics throughout Sleep Now Forever deal frankly with mental health, depression, altered states, death and redemption. Wave upon wave of harmony drench each song, McDowal’s vocal multi-tracked and imperious. Opener Soldier benefits from Robert Lee’s use of the studio as instrument, summoning forth a lilting group performance of sparkling guitar and percussion that recalls the Velvet Underground. Mikey Love’s master treats the compositions to brand new frequency dynamics and space. Harmonium and string drones form the counter to McDowall’s vocal on Love Dies, a slow, lurching lament that feels transcendent. On Haunting, the arrangement is orchestral and aching, bleeding into Fear Becomes You, with chord and harmony structure that recalls the baroque sixties pop of West Coast Pop Experimental Art Band or the 60s psychedelic folk movement. A towering, beautiful statement, this elegy for times lost and moonlit-illumination is finally resurfacing from the darkness.
 

Edition Info

• 2LP repress.
• Black vinyl.
• 300 copies.

Tracklisting

Soldier
Love Dies
Turn Off The Light
Haunting
Fear Becomes You
October Faul
Wishing Stone
Nomadic Man
Epiphany
Angel
Sleep Now Forever

Scheduled: 29 November 2024

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Pre Order FAQ

When is this released?

Sorrow - Sleep Now Forever is available for Pre Order now and has a scheduled release date of 29th November 2024.

In the event of any delays to this date, we will try to keep this page updated in the '⚠ Updates' tab.

When will I get it?

We ship pre order items to arrive with you on or as close as possible to release day. We are limited naturally by when the stock arrives with us in Totnes, but we work hard to ship them in a timely fashion.

⚠ If you make a purchase from Drift that includes both Pre Order titles and in-stock titles, we will ship your entire order as one when all items are released. Read More.

What is the discount?

Every Pre Order product has a discount of between 10% and 15%. This is already factored into the price and will revert to full RRP during the week of release.