Canadian indie-folk artist Sleepy Jean professes an artistic name spelling out a voice of mystique and maybe a certain Monkees song. With a passionate introspective lyrical vision atop a cinematographic lustre, Sleepy Jean professes a bygone meets modern flair of new Americana for dreamers. Her first recorded offering, Idle Hands, is set for release on July 16th.
Idle Hands began as an exercise in self-soothing. The dawning of 2020’s Great Slowdown saw Jean watch her regular hustle and bustle as a working musician disappear within the wink of an eye. In her effort to avoid the realities of global catastrophe, Sleepy turned inwards and spent the majority of her time dreaming up songs that felt comforting yet addressed the anxieties and idiosyncrasies that peppered her newly empty days.
Sleepy partnered with longtime collaborator Dan Serre (Cat Clyde, Shitbats) to record and mix the majority of the 7-song extended play over the course of 2 months within the confines of a spare bedroom. Russ Donohue (Stonehouse Studios) aided in additional mixing, and mastering was completed by Kristian Montano (Montano Mastering) in Toronto, ON. Drums and vibraphone were provided by Marshall Bureau (Great Lake Swimmers, Jill Barber), with additional playing from Kaelin Murphy (trumpet), Phil Bosley (upright bass) and Al Aguilar (synthesizers). A long play is expected to follow in early 2022.
Glide is thrilled to premiere the song and video for “How’s it All Gonna End” a riveting snapshot of her incisive songwriting and flair for the sublime.
“I have no recollection of writing “How’s it All Gonna End.” In the early days of the pandemic, I spent an evening rewatching The Truman Show – and felt oddly struck by the parallels his world had to the one I was currently residing in. When I woke up the next morning, this song was sitting there staring me in the face. The video is both a homage + reimagining of what Sleepy trapped in a Truman world might look like,” says Sleepy about the track.
Photo by Lauren Garbutt
