‘
AWAKE/ASLEEP’ is, somewhat appropriately given the EP’s title, a resetting of the clocks for
Sløtface’s Haley Shea. Following the departure of bandmates Lasse Lokøy and Tor-Arne Vikingstad after a decade’s service, Sløtface is now, ostensibly, the vehicle for Shea’s musical endeavours.
But despite the turmoil, ‘AWAKE/ASLEEP’ does not reflect or embody this upheaval. Indeed, it’s a continuation of 2020’s ‘
Sorry For The Late Reply’, marrying sharp pop-punk hooks with indie-pop accessibility. If anything, ‘AWAKE/ASLEEP’ sees Haley pushing the boundaries of what Sløtface can be in the future.
Crucially, however, even though ‘AWAKE/ASLEEP’ is billed as an EP, it’s a fully-formed eight songs rather than a tentative teaser. It would have been easier for Haley to dip a toe in the water of these possibilities to see what resonated, but the results are cohesive as a whole and perfectly realised individually. Haley has spoken about seeing this as a mixtape, and it’s a fair assessment – even if it doesn’t quite emphasise that every song has the quality of a lead single.
It means, at the one end of the spectrum, ‘Friday Nights’ is a mid-paced torch song, hauntingly stripped back and Sløtface’s most intimate song to date, with Haley’s vocals pushed to the fore, while at the other ‘
HAPPY’ – which captures the feeling of joy and excitement that permeates the EP – is a high-quality punk blast and every bit as good as the likes of ‘
Telepathetic’. Everything else on the EP exists between these pillars, but there’s no question that Sløtface are at their best when letting rip, like on ‘
Come Hell or Whatever’.
