Starter List: Wintersleep

Canadian Indie Music That Isn't Arcade Fire ...

Okay, my tagline is a little lame. There’s plenty of great Canadian indie listening that isn’t of the Arcade Fire variety (I’m not anti-Arcade Fire, I’m simply one of those people who lost interest after the third album). But it’s a drippy Saturday and I spent the morning cleaning, so cut me a little slack.

Wintersleep entered my listening orbit through my love for Frightened Rabbit. Back in the day the best “sounds like” lists were on last.fm and I could spend hours finding similar artists to check out. And that’s how I found Wintersleep.

What’s the draw? Well, the vocals were the first draw. “Oblivion” was my first listen. I was hooked. It was catchy, but but rocking, and I loved Paul Murphy’s delivery. I dove in deeper and was happy to discover they had slow songs that made me think. They also had rockers that fueled me through long workdays.

While the music can always be described as rock, there are more hard rock moments, like “Orca,” and there are more singer-song writer moments like “Archaeologists.”

Finally, they cemented themselves as a favorite with their stellar cover of Frightened Rabbit’s “The Twist,” after Scott’s death. I dare say I like it better than the original.

Give these five songs a spin and see if you agree. If you like what you hear, I hope you’ll leave a comment. If you don’t, maybe I’ll catch your ear with a different playlist soon!

Apple Music:
https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/starter-list-wintersleep/pl.u-76oNlVBCvX23KaV

Spotify Music:

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