![]() ![]() ![]() Even though I’m still recovering from the fact that they are six months younger than me with six studio albums, I’m really looking forward to everything they do next. So, if sad music with fantastic vocals and lyrics is your thing, I highly recommend checking out Cavetown’s discography. I realise this kind of music – what my mum would describe as ‘new-age emo’ – isn’t for everyone, but these songs act as a kind of catharsis for me. Many of the Sleepyhead lyrics explain what I’ve been trying to put into words for years, and it’s nice listening to them having been through the trauma and out the other side. There is something unspeakably sad about a bed never being used by that person again, and here, Cavetown speaks directly to their audience and anyone who needs to hear that they’ll be fine. Sleepyhead is Cavetown’s major-label debut album, the successor to his Animal Kingdom project. This song never fails to make me feel like crying the kind of crying that makes you want to phone your best friend and stand outside in the rain. The idea of being a person – making your bed, cooking dinner, existing every day – can sometimes be immeasurably exhausting. Honestly, my god, who doesn’t just miss their mum sometimes? As a uni student living along at the very start of the pandemic, all I wanted was to phone my mum and let her tell me everything was going to be alright. It also works to explain the ineffability of depressive feelings: as Cavetown writes in the second verse, “Give me a moment to get my cards in line If there was a way to explain everything without a word / I’d have a full house right now without a doubt.” ![]() How much it means to me that you’re tryingĪnd I don’t mind if you can’t hold me like you used toĪnd this is just a bump in the road and I promise I’m trying”įor me, these lyrics said everything I’ve ever wanted to – the need for comfort, and the need for someone to understand that we are trying our best, even if it isn’t enough sometimes. This is a rerecording of a previous song, ‘I Promise I’m Trying’ from Nervous Friends Pt I, written for their mum and their experience of mental health at the time. It reflects an acceptance of always being, ironically, on the ‘outside’, trapped inside our own heads while the world continues around us. The understated, acoustic chorus is what really makes this song for me – and maybe it’s the pandemic, but I relate far too much to these particular lyrics: The haunting repetition of “I like you / say it back” post-chorus reflects the unrequitedness of their love (and is surprisingly catchy). The opening verse is something I think we can all relate to at some stage in our lives. Cavetown distilled his energy on Sleepyhead into what really moves fans: the songs themselves, occasionally lighthearted, largely poignant - but always. The first song on the album – released on Valentine’s Day of all days – is about a sickly sweet but ultimately unhealthy crush and feelings of inadequacy. ![]()
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