June 03, 2003

Tears In X-Ray Eyes "Sleep Like A Dream EP"

Sleep Like A Dream picks up from the Tears In X-Ray Eyes' well-received debut album, Half-Life. If you're looking for the vapid lyrics and pretty-boy posturing of England's "next big thing," please look elsewhere. If you're looking for a band that makes intelligent music that will ring true to the pop-fan in you, then you are well-advised to find this EP. From the lovely beat-driven "Sleep Like A Dream," you know you're in for a pop treat! He slows down a bit with "In These Arms," which borrows more than a bit from John Lennon's "Imagine," but it's quite a beautiful piano-driven number. They pick things up with the also-sad, and also-pretty "The Charge of the Light Brigade." Closing out the set is "Wherever You Are (You'll Find Me There)", a country-bluesy number that stands in stark contrast to the other, poppier numbers--but it's still awesome. My biggest hope is that some label will read about them and release their records here in the US. Their music is too wonderful to allow to go unheard over here.

And they never, ever sound like Coldplay.

--Joseph Kyle

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