HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY: Feel – Sleeping With Sirens

SLEEPING WITH SIRENS have a very well-loved discography. Ever since their 2010 debut, With Ears To See And Eyes To Hear, they have been one of the defining bands of the 2010s. In 2013, they released their third album, Feel. 2013 was a time where newer bands – that would later dominate the mid-2010s rock scene – were starting to make waves, such as TWENTY ONE PILOTS‘s major label debut, Vessel being released. Brighton rock band AS IT IS had self-released their second EP, Blenheim Place, which has gone on to become a fan-favourite. FALL OUT BOY had released Save Rock And Roll, BRING ME THE HORIZON released their magnum opus, Sempiternal, and PARAMORE were reintroducing themselves to the world on their self-titled fourth album.

Feel includes collaborations with the likes of Matty Mullins from MEMPHIS MAY FIRE and rapper MACHINE GUN KELLY. However, unlike their previous two albums (and subsequent releases), it appears to have gone under the radar singles-wise. Unlike the hits If I’m James Dean, You’re Audrey Hepburn, Kick Me, and If You Can’t Hang, Feel is more of a deep cut. On their recent UK tour, SLEEPING WITH SIRENS played no songs from Feel at all, further emphasising the lack of recognition. However, when listening to the album, it is hard to see why there is little love for this album.

Feel opens with the title song, which is a euphoric anthem about feeling alive again. The euphoria doesn’t stop as Here We Go is a rallying call for change. It isn’t all happy smiles and fun through. Free Now is a hopeful but heartbreaking song about upbringing affecting the future, with vocalist Kellin Quinn reflecting on his childhood, and how that will affect his relationship with his daughter. It ends on a hopeful note; however, with lyrics that go in depth about difficult parental relationships. It is one of the highlights of the album due to its honesty.

It seems everyone in the rock scene was confused about MACHINE GUN KELLY‘s sudden genre-switch from rap to pop-punk a few years ago. But most people have forgotten that he featured on a SLEEPING WITH SIRENS song in 2013. Alone is admittedly a run-of-the-mill song by the band; however, the rap verse by MACHINE GUN KELLY breathes new life into the track.

There are unfortunately a few missteps with this album; however, that is somewhat expected as an album doesn’t need to be perfect. That being said, the “woahs” that make up the backing track of Low get tiresome after a while as they are repeated throughout the song, although there are a few screams thrown in right at the end for good measure. Whilst Congratulations, featuring Matty Mullins, starts off with a voicemail from Quinn, Mullins‘ verse is the only interesting part of the song as he brings a new dynamic to the song and he complements Quinn‘s tenor voice.

However, despite a fantastic start and some brilliant songs throughout, such as the fantastically fun and saucy Déjà Vu, which is the band at their most humorous. However, there are some songs that don’t hit the mark, such as the slow-paced Sorry, which runs through the motions of every breakup song ever, complete with woahs and promises to do better. It’s not on par with previous efforts of break-up songs that the band have released, such as If You Can’t Hang. In fact, it just sounds extremely cheesy. Satellites thankfully fixes things up as the closing song. It is a bit more energetic, and the album ends on a note of hope.

Furthermore, the pacing of the overall album is relatively fast, with a lot of the songs full of hyper energy. Therefore, slower tracks such as Sorry slow the pacing to make it seem you’ve gone from dancing at a nightclub to slogging through thick and sticky tar.

Feel was the last album that SLEEPING WITH SIRENS released on Rise Records before they left in 2014. The album reached number three on the US Billboard 200, which became one of the highest charting post-hardcore albums of all time, and number 36 on the UK Albums Chart. The album received mostly positive reviews, with both Alternative Press and AllMusic giving the album 3.5/5 stars, and FasterLouder giving it 7/10.

Looking back, Feel by SLEEPING WITH SIRENS is a mostly good album, despite not living up to its potential. It starts off strong and continues to have strong moments throughout; however, it falls flat in the middle and towards the end. That being said, there are still moments of brilliance and a lot of hidden gems on this album. If given the chance to be played live, then these songs, such as Feel, Déjà Vu, and Here We Go, could become beloved live staples. On the other hand, there are also duds, such as Sorry, which does not fit the album at all. Thankfully, the good outweighs the bad. On the other hand, there are a lot of paint-by-numbers songs that could just be replaced by any other SLEEPING WITH SIRENS songs. Therefore, in one way it is easy to see why Feel is a deep cut. There is also the view that it has a lot of unfair flack that meant that it has gotten over the years. The truth is that Feel is a middle-of-the-road album, but one that had a lot of potential.

Feel was originally released on June 4, 2013 via Rise Records.

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