"Sleepwalk" EP Tanya Donelly

Sleepwalk EP (2002) Tanya Donelly

The latest record in the RJ Battles EP Spotlight is Tanya Donelly's Sleepwalk from 2002. It came out around the same the same time as her second solo album, Beautysleep.

My only complaint is that the lead track, "The Storm", is the LP version and not a re-recording (when she put out the Sliding & Diving EP ahead of her Lovesongs LP, it featured two B-sides, an album track, but also a remix of "Bum" that was much better than the version on the album).

"The Storm", a ballad, starts out with loud electric guitar and then gets quiet and slow. The song would fit in well on Belly's debut, or even King.

Next up is another ballad, "After Your Party", a sad song about being young, lonely, and living in a big city.

Track three is one of my favorite Donelly songs, "Days of Grace". I was very excited when I read that the song was going to be re-recorded for her 2006 LP, This Hungry Life, along with one of Beautysleep's bonus tracks, "To The Lighthouse", but, neither song turned out as good as the original. "Days of Grace" is a perfect pop song, warm and catchy, but no less sad than the other songs on this EP.

The last track is the saddest of them all. "Last Rain".

"Sometime today it will rain/ One of the last of the 1900s/ Should we go out and try to save it/ Or just let it go like the days and decades?"

Sleepwalk is the perfect EP for rainy days.

Note: There are two version of this EP; one is called Sleepwalk, another is simply called EP.

Beautysleep

Two years ago my Corsica died and when it did I decided to go without a car. I lve close enough to work so I just walk. But I decided that I'd like to buy another car before winter comes back.

One thing I'm looking forward to, and always think about when I think about driving is thinking about driving around with Tanya Donelly's Beautysleep in the CD player. It's, for me, the perfect driving record.

I'll admit: it's a slow, dreary record in places- I read somewhere that the vocals had to be sped up on some songs because of the pace- but I like it. It has some of her best songs:
"The Night You saved My Life"
"Moonbeam Monkey"
"The Storm"
"So Much Song", &
"The Wave"

I don't own the album- I downloaded it- but I'll probably burn a copy and tack on the bonus track "Head for Math" along with the Sleepwalk songs, "After Your Party", "Last Rain", and the original version of "Days of Grace".