Paper Bird by iamsleepless - Album Review

So about a week ago I reviewed an electronic/acoustic album by iamsleepless called "Hollow Man". The man behind the music read my review and really appreciated what I had to say, offering to give me a free copy of his new EP, entitled Paper Bird. I rejected the free copy, but told him I would get to the review as soon as I could. My reviews are primarily intended to help recommend music to buyers, but for the artist himself to read it and take it as quality feedback - I never would have expected that kind of thing to come so soon. Thanks for the support Dylan, and I hope this review helps you out with making your next album!

To read my review of Hollow Man, click here.

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It's very infrequent for an artist to have multiple releases within a year. Usually, it takes years for a new album by an artist to come out, and even an EP usually takes about a year, but there are exceptions. Back in the 1970s, Electric Light Orchestra were able to crank out an album almost annually with an average of 12 songs each. Even nowadays some bands can release above-decent albums on a very frequent basis.

After iamsleepless hadn't released anything for three years after "Holding Up The Sky", to see not only a full album but then Paper Bird later on in the year was quite the surprise. But it a pleasant one, or was this EP rushed?

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Album: Paper Bird

Artist: iamsleepless

Year of Release: 2014

Genre: Acoustic Guitar

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"Hollow Man", to some, was an album with an identity crisis of sorts. While both the electronic music and acoustic songs blended together really well, it could definitely throw some listeners off. This EP decides to limit itself to just acoustic guitar as to not vary too much between the three tracks. Some may miss the electronic music, but for something this small, the two styles could have easily conveyed mixed messages. In a full album, he has more time to make the two styles work together.

But the acoustic guitar - it's such a basic instrument. Can it really carry a whole EP all on its own?

Dylan completely dispels any doubt with the first song, entitled 1400 Miles. It's a really simple piece, but a really interesting one. The guitar is not only used as a means of conveying melody, but also bass, rhythm, and percussion. The entire piece is an ostinato at its core, meaning that it plays the same basic line over and over again, but it's what is added and subtracted that prevents it from being boring. There's no singing or lyrics, just pure atmosphere. Some might say it overstates its welcome by a little bit, but for an album that is essentially intended to keep listeners relaxed, it certainly will do just that - but at the same time, it's interesting enough to not put them to sleep.

Shallow Seas doesn't take any time to build up, as within ten seconds the soothing vocals kick in. The song's pretty basic, and the lyrics aren't really that memorable, but it still works. The most stand-out thing about this track is the echo effect on the vocals. It sounds almost as if the song was sung on a boat out in the middle of a lake and could be heard from any part of the surrounding land. Perhaps that was the intention, perhaps it wasn't, but either way it sounds really neat. The singing isn't the most impressive, but it doesn't have to be. There are some things that simply can't be done outside of post-production, and given iamsleepless' electronic roots, it's clear that post-production is a huge part of his music-making process. The guitar doesn't really do much in this song, but it provides a nice backdrop. Turns out the guitar didn't have to carry the whole EP after all!

The title track, Paper Bird, is another guitar-only song, but it's completely different from the first song. While the first song was more technical but repetitive, this song is melodic and lyrical in nature. Because it's the acoustic guitar, there's some repeating elements, sure, but the focus is almost entirely on the melody. There really isn't too much to the song, as with the other songs on this album, but it's certainly a relaxing experience at the very least. "Shallow Seas" is the more memorable song, but this is still a nice closer.

This is a really short release even for an EP, only clocking in at around 10 minutes, but it was just the length it needed to be. While Dylan certainly proved that the acoustic guitar is a very capable instrument, it certainly can get dull after a while, and while "Hollow Man" is by far the better listening experience, this EP is more than worth the small asking price. And since it is only 10 minutes, the fact that it took five months to make this EP proves that it absolutely could not have been rushed. It's not the most memorable, it's not the most interesting, but for what it is, it does a great job at doing it.

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Music Video Sample:

<to come at a later date>

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/paper-bird-single/id910615433

Bandcamp: http://iamsleepless.bandcamp.com/album/paper-bird-ep

Hollow Man by iamsleepless - Album Review

Music is more than just a form of entertainment. It is a way of life, an art form, an expression of feelings and emotion. If a song is catchy and nothing else, it's generally not a good song, but if a song makes listeners happy or angry or sad... that's what people remember.

So how does all of this in-depth analysis on what music is relate to this artist that no one knows about?

iamsleepless is a solo musical project by someone with quite a history. He has been entertaining for years on his YouTube channels (Bananapielord and Hewbz), but gradually began to focus more and more on music-making, especially after a hand injury that prevented him from being on his computer all day. One of the videos he made on the Bananapielord channel discussed his rather depressing past, and his music very clearly calls back to that past while talking about how he feels in the present day. It's clear that Hollow Man is a passion project and it pays off.

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Album: Hollow Man

Artist: iamsleepless

Year Released: 2014

Genre: Electronic / Acoustic

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This album is a unique combination of both electronic music and acoustic guitar. It's not a very common combination, but somehow the songs manage to all fit together, with a soft, relaxing feel throughout. It's a good album to wind down to after a long day.

The first song, Distant Admiration, is an electronic song, and a very catchy one at that. Catchy doesn't make a good song, however, and while it is a good opener, it's one of my least favorite songs on the album. It definitely fits with the album, but it lacks the heart and soul of the songs that follow.

From a composition standpoint, it still is quite impressive. Its main melody is heard throughout nearly the entire song while the surrounding tracks start to do different things. Around the three-minute mark the song starts to slow down, but it also gets a bit less interesting. Luckily it speeds back up about a minute later to a mid-tempo pace. The song closes after some repetitions of similar melodies, when it probably should have ended about two minutes earlier. After the opener comes the acoustic songs, which are easily the highlight of the album.

A World Apart is a pretty simple in terms of the guitar work, but it is so calming and soothing that it is hard not to like. The singing is impressive, and the lyrics being sung are poetic in nature:

A world apart,

An ocean between our hearts,

This is who we are,

They can't keep us apart.

Those words - that's something that could be turned into a poster or be put in a frame. That's something a husband tells his wife on their wedding day. That's something a young man tells his family before going out to war.

It would be completely inaccurate to call this song a musical masterpiece, but it has passion behind it and that's what sells the song.

The title track, Hollow Man, features some decently impressive acoustic guitar work. Once again, the lyrics are fantastic:

I'm just a hollow man,

Someone that I can't stand,

My hands are killing me,

Who I am, is it who I see?

The man behind iamsleepless had a hand injury that crippled his ability to make frequent YouTube videos, something that had been his way of expressing himself for over five years. This song is a clear response to that incident - he claims to be "hollow" because he was unsure of who he really was. These lyrics once again make the song, although the music itself is still rather impressive on its own.

But isn't this lyrical prowess something non-exclusive to iamsleepless? Don't all lyricists get their inspiration from somewhere? Why would these lyrics be greater than that of "Stairway to Heaven" or "Elanor Rigby"? The answer is they're not.

When you take away the lyrics from this album, you have some good electronic music and decent acoustic guitar, but not much else. From a pure musical standpoint, this album really does not stand out. But for some reason the lyrics and the guitar really make these songs work, and the electronic songs somehow manage to complete the package, despite the fact that songs like "Distant Admiration" would not normally be paired with the likes of "A World Apart". What makes this album so special?

As an interlude, another electronic piece, entitled Suspended in Time, is played. It sounds like an interlude song when you listen to it, which is good for the album but not so good for the song itself. While it's not really impressive for that reason, the album also would not feel complete without it. After all, the lack of an electronic piece in the middle would make the first track really stand out in a bad way. It's a song that you would never deliberately choose to listen to, but it is a good interlude for the album. It also ends with an acoustic bit, which helps transition back into the acoustic guitar songs to follow.

Lonely Girl is the most complicated guitar song on the album, musically, but it doesn't have the same technical guitar bits that "Hollow Man" had, making it less impressive instrumentally. Once again, however, the lyrics do help - not as memorable as the prior two acoustic songs, but still good. There's also still the fact that the song is so calming and soothing that it's hard to hate.

Fly Away With Me is also pretty good, thanks to the addition of the girl accompaniment. There were certainly some missed opportunities for harmonization, as the girl only sings the same pitches as iamsleepless instead of making chords with him. The lyrics are just as great as the previous songs. It's still a good song, but it definitely could have been better.

In My Arms is the most forgettable song on the album. It sounds just like "Fly Away With Me" and doesn't do too much different. The lyrics are pretty forgettable too, which is sad considering the rest of the album's great lyrical work. There's a decent guitar feature in the middle, but it isn't anything to write home about. Just like the other songs, however, the relaxing nature of the song does prevent people from just skipping past it. This song, at its best, is just another part of the near-zen-like experience that comes with listening to this album or albums like it.

The album closes in the same way it opened, with an electronic piece, except Transcending Time is a lot slower and more atmospheric, making it a really good closer. Unfortunately, like the interlude, it doesn't do too much other than close out the album. It's the weakest song on the album by far, but it serves its purpose, so it's hard to complain.

So without the lyrics this album is nothing, but the lyrics themselves, while sometimes really good, never really reach the levels of the more iconic songs. If that's the case, then this should be a bad album - especially with the odd combination of electronic and acoustic music - but for some reason it's not.

Art is a strange beast. It can be interpreted in different ways, and it can be liked or hated, depending on who is observing it. No one could ever give a completely right answer on what makes good art, and no one ever will. To some, the most impressive works of art are the most complicated. If a painting has an incredible attention to detail, and viewers can make out the face of a person who is far into the background, some would consider that true artistic talent. But to others, the most impressive works of art are simpler. These people appreciate not the painting itself, but what the painting intends to communicate. A painting of a bowl of fruit may not be that complicated, but the arrangement of that fruit, why each object is in a certain location and what that means.

So what makes this album so special?

Hollow Man is a bowl of fruit in the music industry. It's not the best, it's not the most complicated, and it's not the most impressive, but every note and word is deliberate and intentional, and that is what makes this album so good.

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Music Sample Video: <to be added at a later date>

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/hollow-man/id853817218

iamsleepless' Bandcamp: http://iamsleepless.bandcamp.com/album/hollow-man