Get It Now! #1: Wintersleep

(Get It Now! is a new segment at LOTD, and as the title suggests it is an instant recommendation of what sounds good in the moment. Act fast before the mood changes!)


Artist: Wintersleep
Album: Welcome to the Night SKy

Comments: Snow Patrol, The Fray, Keane, Travis, Belle & Sebastien, and early Death Cab For Cutie. Wintersleep could be mentioned in the same breath with any of these bands, as well as any band that makes mid-sized emotional pop music. The comparison wouldn't be wrong, especially considering how pleasantly unremarkable Welcome to the Night Sky is on first listen. Those who recognize the strength of the band and go back for repeat listens, however, will find a wealth of better-than-average pop songs that hit much harder than their soft-rocking brethren. Tracks like "Weighty Ghost" and "Laser Beams" have much better composition and structure than anything Snow Patrol has done, while mammoth album closer "Miasmal Smoke & The Yellow Bellied Freaks" is a post-rock turned soft titan, a beautiful and epic closer to an album that is as yielding and adventurous as the season that named them. Philadelphia is covered in snow. There is no better time to get into Wintersleep.