Album Review

The dramatic sweep of the title track, from distorted, marching effects to a cascade of glistening guitars and intricate drum fills, ushers in this seven-song offering. Recorded at Silo Studios in Hamilton, Ontario, and deeply affecting upon first listen, this album is something that sets Sleeper Set Sail apart in their home scene down in southern Ontario. Sure, they‘ve played shows with Moneen, Alexisonfire and all the up-and-coming bands in the Toronto area, but they‘re so different, preferring sonic exploration and a highly-developed sense of composition to the less subtle, hit-and-run techniques employed by most of their peers. Radiohead is likely a staple in these guys‘ listening diet; the same experimentation and disregard for ‘traditional‘ structural limits that Britain‘s most esoteric band has displayed for the last five years is present throughout Correlation: Escapism.

If one was forced to pigeonhole S3 at gunpoint, it would probably be in the emo category, not because it‘s whiny and contrived but because it‘s emotional, emo the way it probably was a decade ago. Drawn-out passages, like tunnels into oblivion, give way to two guitars delicately noodling about in a way that‘s being done a lot nowadays, but still effective when it‘s executed properly, and suddenly a post-hardcore mini-breakdown is up in the mix, and you‘re wondering how big an influence .hopesfall might have been on Sleeper Set Sail - the repetitive ambience morphing into heaviness is reminiscent of that band‘s Satellite Years album, while the fourth track, ‘The Redeemer‘, has an intro that‘s exactly a match for Alexisonfire‘s breakout hit ‘Pulmonary Archery‘ (remember the ubiquitous video with the band in the big house? Yeah, that band). ‘The Redeemer‘ also happens to be the heaviest song on the album, with a great foundational riff behind some rather scathing lyrics: ‘You know I am the author of these harmful things you read/creating vengeful words to cut you/we both know that regret fills the pages.‘ Pity the poor soul this song‘s about.

Actually, the lyrics throughout are fascinating. It‘s not clear who writes them, but they‘re intelligent, poetic and quick with a metaphor or visual. Phrases like ‘sparse‘ or ‘coldly efficient‘ might describe Correlation: Escapism if not for the inherent warmth the music delivers. This is a choppy, slowly-surging avalanche preserved on compact disc. I‘ve never had the privilege of seeing Sleeper live, but if you picture a dimly-lit stage, empty save for the band, with occasional flares of light timed with the quasi-breakdowns and a smallish crowd lost for the most part in their own thoughts, I imagine that‘s pretty close.

For deep thinkers and fans of mood music - a variety of moods.

[Sleeper Set Sail]