The Metaphorical Boat Podcast Episode 04 - Beauty Sleep

On each episode of The Metaphorical Boat Podcast, Christopher McBride, the Captain of The Metaphorical Boat, will sit down with one of his favourite musicians, and over a cup of a lovely caffeinated beverage and a bun or tray-bake of the artist's choosing (The Captain always goes for Battenberg. Always), chat through the artist's life, musical highlights, and most importantly, how many sugars they take.

Our guests on this episode of The Metaphorical Boat Podcast is Belfast trio Beauty Sleep. Cheylene, Ryan & Aimee from the band dropped by to talk about their music, being inspired by art, playing festivals, whether they really are a dream-pop band, and "The Seagull Incident".

Listen or download now on Soundcloud or on iTunes:

Find out more about Beauty Sleep on -
Facebook | Twitter | Website 

Beauty Sleep - Living Right

The debut single from Belfast-based trio Beauty Sleep pushed quite a lot of people's metaphorical buttons when it came out at the start of the year. "The Dark" has been streamed over 50,000 times on Soundcloud, been picked up by lots of blogs, earning it a lot of love on the Hype Machine, and has been played on nearly every Irish radio station, as well as a few stations a little further afield.

Now six months later, the band have unveiled their follow-up single, which they hope can capitalize on the success of their debut. "Living Right" sounds like just the song to do that, in that it is both comfortably familiar to those already familiar with Beauty Sleep whilst offering something a little bit different. "Living Right" retains the hazy dream-pop sound that characterized their debut, but has a more extroverted, punchier sound that its predecessor, reminding us a little bit of Chapterhouse in places. Plus, it's got a whopping massive chorus that you can't just help but fall in love with.

"Living Right" is out now.

Beauty Sleep - The Dark

Having written about them more or less since the blog began, and enthusing about them at every possible opportunity, I think by know you're all aware of the total love that this blog has for Wonder Villains and everything Wonder Villains related (fun fact - they're the only band that have their own specific label on this blog). They've been quiet as late, save for a Stiff Little Fingers cover for the soundtrack of Shooting For Socrates, but now half of their members have started a new, interesting project.

The Beauty Sleep trio are made up of Villains Ryan McGroarty & Cheylene Murphy (who's also spent the last year involved with Go Girl and Blog Sound of 2016 nominees Pleasure Beach), in addition to Aimee Williamson, and eschews more straightforward pop in favour of something a little bit more atmospheric, but just as enjoyable. "The Dark" is an irresistible mixture of dream-pop (quite apt, given their name), Balearic dance and synth-pop, all tied together by luscious interlocking boy/girl vocals. Top marks for the oceanic-sounding guitar solo in the outro too.

"The Dark" is a great introductory single for Beauty Sleep. Does the involvement of 50% of the Wonder Villains mean that that band have been dissolved? We hope not, but if Beauty Sleep can deliver more great songs like this, then we won't be too disappointed.

"The Dark" will be released on February 19th. A launch gig will be held in Bar Sub, Belfast on Friday 26th February.

The Diamond Age - I Might Just Be

Here's another artist that has been in the "Inbox of Shame" for some time now. Southampton based duo The Diamond Age have been floating on the cusps of our peripheral vision for a few months now, and whilst there was something interesting about their sound, I never did get around to posting something about them.

But having seen the name bandied about on Twitter recently, as well as noting that they're playing at The Great Escape next week, I felt it was worth revisiting their most recent release, "I Might Just Be", and realised that it actually is quite good. Listening to the track, you might understand the initial reservations, as it sounds as if it's been recorded in a tin can, which even someone like myself who doesn't mind lo-fi recordings found a little off-putting. However, once you get over this, what's left is a delightful little dreamy surf-rock tune, with a wonderfully crafted guitar riff and some blissed out vocals. Definitely one to keep a more focused eye on.

"I Might Just Be" will be released on Monday 5th May. They play The Great Escape Festival, Brighton on May 10th at 3pm at Sticky Mike's Frog Bar.