ALBUM REVIEW: Where I Go When I Am Sleeping – Casey

Brazen in their delivery of raw and brutally honest expression, CASEY have never been a band to shy away from exposing weakness and vulnerability within their music, and it’s the deeply personal experiences of vocalist Tom Weaver and his exploratory, unrestrained lyricism that has always driven the band’s emotional centre. Combined with ever-impressive song writing ability that successfully blends heavy-hitting hardcore with elements of indie rock and ethereal, richly-textured atmospherics, CASEY have developed a unique identity for themselves within the post-hardcore scene, more than earning their rising popularity. Rather than resting on this success, however, their latest record, Where I Go When I Am Sleeping, exhibits the band’s ambition to reach beyond their pre-established boundaries and explore brand-new territory. Pushing ahead in these bold directions across the entire 12-track offering, it’s hard to emphasise just how remarkable a follow-up CASEY have created in their sophomore record.

While the band’s 2016 debut, Love Is Not Enough, focussed on Weaver’s personal relationships against the backdrop of his own declining mental health, Where I Go When I Am Sleeping instead fixates itself solely on the exploration of his mental and physical illness, subjects that continue to be addressed with unrivalled honesty. Suffering with manic depression, brittle-bone disease and colitis, as well as also confronting several near-death encounters, it’s these exact personal experiences that are examined so vividly and are used to fuel every second of the album’s material. Delving even deeper than its predecessor with the visceral material throughout, Weaver’s profound ability to talk so openly and directly about these ailments is as inspiring as it is touching. Dissecting the emotional trauma over a period of many years, distressing and incredibly blunt lyrical content is brought to life with extraordinary poetic elegance. Translated to a higher level by the inspired performances from Liam Torrance (lead guitar), Toby Evans (guitar), Adam Smith (bass) and Max Nicolai (drums),the weight of Weaver’s lyrics are carried without fault, perfectly rendering every second of high emotion.

Though maintaining their familiar abrasive edge on much of the album, a distinctive boost in personal and artistic confidence greatly elevates this effort above their last, resulting in a supremely emotional journey from start to finish. Building on top of the band’s hardcore foundation with a substantial influence of post-rock this time around, the band have located greater depth to their sound and brought added nuance to their writing. Exploring more spacious, progressive territory that’s less concerned with providing such a heavy punch all the way through, melody finds a welcome balance against the familiar barrage of hardcore instrumentals and guttural screams, and Weaver’s heightened comfort within his own singing ability allows these moments to flourish even further. While these choices have resulted in a slightly less-heavy experience overall, by no means does this dilute the band’s work or its impact. Contributing far more variety as a result, the album is constantly surprising and unrelenting in remarkable emotional outpour.

Making this stylistic shift immediately apparent with opening track Making Weight, thick, swelling ambience and a lonely, accompanying guitar line underpin fragile vocal melody. Solemn and sedate throughout, Weaver’s emotional performance is sincere and utterly captivating; qualities that persist without fail until the album’s dying second. Spending its runtime detailing specific events, thoughts and feelings that establish the album’s tone, Wavering initiates a sudden contrast as CASEY proudly demonstrate their versatility with an assault of hardcore flurry. It’s not until the subsequent tracks Phosphenes and Fluorescents, however, until the true magnitude of the band’s evolution comes to light. Masterfully fusing together the band’s influences into two career-defining hits, both tracks offer something vastly different, but each manage to supply refined, high-energy performances alongside quieter moments of tenderness. Thematically linked by the topics of self-recovery, lyrically these songs are some of the most difficult to swallow, yet musically they’re songs that capture an authentic sense of beauty despite the fact. Maintaining this trend within another album highlight, Flowers By The Bed is a confident, melody-driven ballad that attacks with spine-chilling impact. Building up to a colossal chorus that layers vocal harmonies over a vast, sonic landscape, the sheer power from Weaver’s bandmates permeates through the rich atmospherics to compliment his powerful vocal hooks, creating without a doubt one of the strongest songs in the band’s arsenal.

As the album continues into the latter half of its runtime, CASEY continue to administer more of their eclectic influences ranging from indie rock within the song Needlework, to passages of post-metal influence on Where I Go When I Am Sleeping, the album’s title track and instrumental. Making their aforementioned post-rock credentials known as the song climbs towards its climactic peak, Bruise is slow-burning but never short of mesmerising, representing one of the most hopeful track offerings as the lyrics explore Weaver’s gradual recovery and restored feelings of love. Transforming this formula with shoegaze-style textures and the band’s signature post-hardcore aggression, the band continues to inspire with closing efforts The Funeral and Wound.

Beautiful, heart-wrenching, inspiring and visceral – the list goes on, but no single word can adequately describe CASEY‘s storytelling over the course of Where I Go When I Am Sleeping. Presented at a time where mental health is, unfortunately, often treated as taboo, it’s important to hear such a candid perspective. Unafraid to demonstrate anguish, sorrow and hopelessness in all its ugly detail, the album is exceptionally relatable to anybody suffering similar aches and illnesses. Using the final moments to send out a crucially important message, Weaver’s spoken-word finale references his growing sense of optimism towards a healthy recovery while using the platform to advocate for the open discussion of mental illness:

“Every day I dilute the nefarious self-deprecation and loathing a little more with the help of my loved ones, whose constant support I certainly wouldn’t be here without. In all the ways that I am weak, I am also strong. Learning how to speak gave me the strength to carry on…” Impossible to endure without confronting an overwhelming sense of emotion, CASEY have created a landmark release like no other.

Rating: 10/10

Where I Go When I Am Sleeping is out now via Hassle Records. 

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