Drowse

Drowse is the musical project of American musician and producer Kyle Bates. Based in Portland, Oregon, Bates founded the project in 2013 and released the debut album, Soon Asleep, in 2015.

For the song by Queen, see A Day at the Races (album).
Drowse
Drowse performing live in 2014
Background information
OriginPortland, Oregon, United States
GenresExperimental, slowcore, shoegaze, indie rock folk, drone, ambient, electronic, lo-fi, noise pop, post-punk
Years active2013 - Present
LabelsThe Flenser, The Native Sound, Apneic Void, Television Records
Associated actsFloating Room
Websitehttps://drowsepnw.com/
MembersKyle Bates

Bates collaborates with other musicians during his home recordings and live shows.

History

Before forming Drowse, Bates played in local bands and recorded music on his laptop.[1] In 2011 Bates experienced a dissociative mental breakdown that would inform the first few Drowse releases.[2] In 2013 he released an EP, Songs to Sleep On through Television Records and began performing live with help from various Portland musicians.[3][4]

Drowse released its debut album Soon Asleep through Apneic Void Sounds in 2015.[5] The album featured Portland based singer Tuesday Faust.[6] Following the release of Soon Asleep, Drowse recorded music that was contributed to Miserable's 2016 album, Uncontrollable.[7]

In 2016 Drowse released an EP titled Memory Bed through New York based label The Native Sound.[8] Memory Bed featured vocal and lyrical collaborations with Maya Stoner.[9]

Drowse signed to The Flenser to release sophomore album Cold Air in 2018.[10] Directly after the release Bates became an artist in residence in Skagaströnd, Iceland, resulting in new work including Fog Storm pts. 1-4, released as a split with Planning For Burial.[11]

Light Mirror, Drowse's second album for The Flenser, was announced for release in 2019–it features material recorded in Iceland and at home.[12] Drowse has shared the stage with a wide range of musical acts, including Planning for Burial and King Woman.[13]

Musical style

Drowse derives influence from multiple genres and has been labeled "drone-pop",[3] "shoegaze/drone",[14] and "dream pop."[15] Vice described the project's sound as "the aural equivalent of blood rushing back to a sleeping limb"[9] and likened it to a "post-black metal take on" English shoegazing band Slowdive and Texas post-rock band Explosions in the Sky.[13] Spin writer Matt Malone noted that "Drowse prioritizes music over lyrics, using vocals not to tell a story as much as add an instrumental layer to the music's soothing fog."[14] A.V. Club critic Brian Shultz characterized the project's sound as "breathy, entrancing, and certainly a little bit eerie."[16] Cris Lankenau, writing for Willamette Week, compared Drowse to other Pacific Northwest musical acts Mount Eerie and Grouper.[17] Lars Gotrich from NPR reinforced the comparison, saying "Drowse [...] sounds like an intimate Mount Eerie home recording overdubbed with a worn-out cassette of The Cure's Disintegration."[18]

Discography

Studio Albums

Mini-LPs, EPs and split releases

Other releases
  • Naive Sleep (2014; self-released)
  • Covered (2015; self-released)

Music videos
  • "Melt" (2015; dir. Ayers)[6]
  • "Break" (2016; dir. Bates, Stoner)[14]
  • "Memory" (2016; dir. Bates, Stoner)[19]
  • "Klonopin" (2018; dir. Bates, Stoner)[18]
  • "Bipolar 1" (2019; dir. Bates)[20]

References
  1. "The feeling of sickness – an interview with DROWSE". www.idioteq.com. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  2. Prado, Ryan J. "The Narcotic Story". Portland Mercury. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  3. "Tape Haul August 2014". Tome to the Weather Machine. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  4. Tbtci (2016-10-29). "The Blog That Celebrates Itself: Soon Asleep with Drowse - An Interview". The Blog That Celebrates Itself. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  5. Leipzig, Travis (2015-06-09). "Album Debut: Stream Drowse's 'Soon Asleep'". Noise & Color PDX. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  6. "Drowse 'Melt' (video)". Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  7. "Unknown Pleasures: We Caught Up With Kristina Esfandiari Of Miserable". MUSIC&RIOTS Magazine. 2016-08-15. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  8. "Premiere: Drowse - "Memory"". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  9. "Premiere: Drowse's 'Memory Bed' EP Is a Beautiful Study of Detachment - Noisey". Noisey. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  10. "Drowse premieres new track, "Quickening," off upcoming LP, Cold Air". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  11. "Premiere: Drowse deliver an intense audiovisual hallucination with "Fog Storm Parts 1-4"". www.treblezine.com. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
  12. "Drowse". The Flenser. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  13. ""Melt" into Drowse's Hypnotic Exploration of Suicide and Medication - Noisey". Noisey. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  14. "Drowse Composes His Own Mental 'Break' On New Single | SPIN". Spin. 2016-06-22. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  15. "Drowse - 'Memory' | Sounds Better With Reverb". www.soundsbetterwithreverb.com. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  16. "Here's what's coming to record stores and streaming services in August". 2016-08-03. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  17. "Drowse Commits His Life to Tape—the Pain, Recovery and Everything in Between". Willamette Week. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  18. "Drowse's 'Klonopin' Soundtracks A Heavy Dose". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-02-17.
  19. "Lose Yourself in Drowse's 'Memory'". CLRVYNT. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  20. http://thefourohfive.com. "Track Of The Day: Drowse's isolation fractures into grayscale shoegaze beauty on new song and video 'Bipolar 1' [405 Premiere]". The 405. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
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