An Old Piano Teacher Reacts To Atlantic by Sleep Token

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]It's music that descends from the heavens. So, day two of Sleep Token. I feel like I'm starting to get a feel for what to expect now. But of course, we should never enter listening to new music with expectations. I'm going to try to keep those on hold as we listen to Atlantic, which is something that a lot of people said I should listen to.

[00:00:20]Let's go.

[00:00:39]>> [music] >> That's nice, isn't it? Just just to start with and I'm stopping before we get going. Just that kind of [music] it's very simple, isn't it?

[00:01:05]Something like that. [music] [music] kind this descending chord sequence.

[00:01:21]It's It's I like the way it kind of comes down.

[00:01:29]It It feels It's almost like just bringing a bird coming into land, isn't it? Um sets a scene, sets a tone. And the the the repetitive nature of those chords. I feel like we're going to hear a lot more of those chords. I like where it begins here in the upper register as well. very delicate.

[00:01:53][singing] >> It's blue light [music] over [singing] murder for me.

[00:02:05][music] >> He's singing the same melody that he's playing on the piano.

[00:02:13]>> Makes it super focused, super simple.

[00:02:20]Nothing unnecessary here at all. No flim flam, no padding. [singing and music] >> [music] >> lots of nuance. Delicate.

[00:02:41][music and singing] >> Oh, now listen to the keyboard. Just now we're moving down the keyboard.

[00:02:51]Synth comes in just single note. And now the piano [music] just gently undercover of the synth. It sneaks down the keyboard.

[00:03:02]>> [music] >> So the whole energy is just building very subtly now. He's brought the piano part down a whole octave. Now, as I say, undercover of that synthse.

[00:03:17][music] [singing] And again that keyboard just the synthesizer just moving forward [music] [singing] not to crush into sand.

[00:03:42]>> Now it's moving [music] into chords that um synth just spacing out a little bit.

[00:03:49][music] >> It's we're 2 minutes 33 in and it's just been buildup so far. Beautifully timed, you know. No. Oh, it's nice.

[00:04:10]His vocals are gorgeous.

[00:04:15]Cinematic desolate landscape.

[00:04:33]There's nothing drawing the attention.

[00:04:35]You've got the synth over here playing a kind of tune um [music] [music] with a nice big build. We've waited 3 and 1/2 minutes 3 and 1/2 minutes for the payoff.

[00:04:59][music] Huge chunk of guitars.

[00:05:06][music] >> [music] >> The >> guitars are beautifully placed in the mix to allow his voice >> free rain and to to spread out a little bit.

[00:05:24][music] [music] >> It's it's been like the higher frequencies of the guitars have been rolled off to to allow the vocal it it its own space in the frequency range.

[00:05:47]Oh, >> harmonized.

[00:05:52][music and singing] >> It's beautiful, isn't it?

[00:06:07]>> Beautiful. really beautiful piece of music with a with a definite um a definite arrow of time to it, doesn't it? The the whole buildup and then we get three and a half minutes in and then get the payoff with the with the big landscape, the distorted guitars, the uh the keyboards um and and the vocals just sitting beautifully in the mix. It's um it's it's difficult to try to describe it in in simple words, isn't it? It's an emotion. It's a feeling and it makes you feel a certain way. And I suppose everybody's going to have their own sense of what what that feels like to them, how how that resonates emotionally with them. For me, it's a sense of spaciousness that I like about it. the simplicity that draws the ear to to certain places.

[00:07:04]It It's like being shown around somewhere by a guide. And this and now here's the [music] and you get this simple [music] get just this simple thing and then and then it it kind of just goes round and round but it it it never gets tedious.

[00:07:32]It changes ever so slightly with each iteration and then it moves down and we get more gravitas down here [music] and the the the whole thing just then almost like descending from the heavens, isn't it? It's music that descends from the heavens. You can hear the musicality coming out of the paws of that track.

[00:07:58]um obviously made by uh musicians who who know exactly what they're doing. Um you know there is nothing wrong with people sat in their bedrooms making music on a computer. This isn't that though. This isn't that you can have good music made by people who know very little about music music and you can have good music made by musicians who know tons about music and this is the latter. Join me again tomorrow and we will be dissecting yet another Sleep Token track. Um, I I don't know which one yet because I'm not decided, but hopefully give me a a follow and then you won't miss it unless course you want to.