And here it is, the second album of Sleeping Pulse, Dreams & Limitations. It took 12 years to make the second record of this collaboration between Mick Moss of Antimatter and Luis Fazendeiro of Painted Black. Their first record, Under The Same Sky, came out in 2014 and still means a lot to me. I really enjoy listening to songs as Parasite, Backfire, The Puppeteer and Foreign Body, to name a few. Antimatter is the band of Mick Moss and exists since 2001. The band created 8 studio albums in all these years and made the album Parallel Matter that came out in 2025. This album is full of older material that had never been released and some remakes of several songs. Partner in crime, Luis Fazendeiro, is from the band Painted Black which I do not know. I listened to just one song on YouTube, but that music is too straightforward for me. So I can tell you that I am really happy with the partnership between both. Mick is responsible for all the lyrics and the vocals, Luis is responsible for all of the music. Who knows Mick Moss a little bit, knows his lyrics are always well-considered and always have depth. This time is no different. The music Sleeping Pulse creates can be described as modern rock but has also fragile acoustic passages, electronic elements and string arrangements. Let's take a look at the new songs they created. It all starts with the title track, Dreams & Limitations. With only one minute a bit short for a title track, but I don't mind because it directly has a beautiful guitar solo. You are immediately drawn into the music. Dreams & Limitations spills over into Rise. You are directly confronted with solid, punchy guitar work. And after a while you can hear the beautiful, super emotional voice of Mick which gives me goosebumps every time. What a depth he has in his voice. The song eases off a bit and makes room for the brass. After another calmer phase with the singing of Mick there is another brass section, this time with the flute. It all ends heavy. This is a great song for me. Like Rise, Illuminate features a lot of variety, alternating between understated and up-tempo moments. I really love that. The music is dripping with emotions. What a delightful song. The Butterfly Collector is a ballad-like song. It starts acoustically, after a while a bit up-tempo with lovely guitars of Luis, not exaggerated, but emotional nonetheless. It is impossible not to be moved by the song Two Wreaths. It opens with the piano, played very softly—almost fragilely. Then it is Mick's turn to tell his story, accompanied by the acoustic guitar. A little later, the sound intensifies with very tight drumming alongside beautiful strings. It is a beautiful song. After two more subdued songs, it is the turn to The Constraint. It all starts very melodic and up-tempo with a big role for the more heavy guitar riffs. Mick is singing a little lower in this one. Musical wise this one is a bit less difficult but there is a lovely guitar solo. Towards the end there is more space for Mick and he jumps into that hole. The final shot, however, is for another guitar solo. Behind The Glass is the next one. In this song the strings are headlining now and then. Further you can hear a kind of duet between Mick and a female singer. This song is a really emotional rollercoaster due to the deeply, slow guitar solo that drags you, just wow, what an emotion! Extrasolar is the longest song on the album and counts nine minutes. This is a song where you can expect contrasts in heavy and low, thundering guitar and strings and everything in between. It is exactly what you need to hear as listener. When I Am Young Again is the final song. Here you can hear the piano and Mick at his most emotional singing and that has everything to do with the lyrics. You can also hear a nice baseline, you can feel the tension and oh yeah, there are the strings again. It is a quieter song but a fitting conclusion of the album. This is an album to be proud of, so hats off to Mick and Luis for the excellent music and lyrics. This time I do not want to tell too much about the lyrics, it is good to do your own research in that way. The album contains a lot of emotion, beautiful guitar parts, nice strings that serve the songs and have sometimes a place in the spotlight. And of course the singing of Mick is beautiful. I really hope that they don't need another 12 years to make another record. ****+ Michel Stolk (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
