Alien with a Sleep Mask
Ratboys
Julia Steiner has a voice that sounds like it's remembering something while it's still happening — present and slightly removed at the same time, warm without being soft, observational without being cold. "Alien with a Sleep Mask" sits in the particular pocket Ratboys have made their own: Midwest indie rock with country's willingness to sit with discomfort, guitars that jangle and then swell without ever quite releasing. The tempo is unhurried, almost ambling, which lets the details accumulate — specific images that add up to a feeling of dislocation, of being physically present in a place while something essential in you has already departed. The production has a lived-in quality, like a room where the furniture hasn't moved in years. The song fits the Chicago underground tradition of bands who are too melodic to be punk and too emotionally direct to be art rock, existing in a space that resists easy genre tagging. Steiner's delivery is conversational in the best way — she's not performing feeling, she's reporting it. Best heard on a long drive through flat terrain at dusk, when the sky goes purple and you think about everyone you used to know.
slow
2010s
warm, jangly, lived-in
Chicago underground, Midwest indie scene
Indie Rock, Country. Midwest indie rock. nostalgic, melancholic. Opens with quiet observation and lets specific images accumulate into a feeling of dislocation that lingers without resolving.. energy 4. slow. danceability 3. valence 4. vocals: warm female, conversational, observational, slightly removed. production: jangling guitars, swelling arrangements, lived-in country-inflected production. texture: warm, jangly, lived-in. acousticness 5. era: 2010s. Chicago underground, Midwest indie scene. A long drive through flat terrain at dusk when the sky goes purple and you think about everyone you used to know.