Following the hypnotic “Shape Memory”, Robin Kester shares an eerie new song called “Long Dark Sleep”, which leans on a feathery Hal Blaine-groove and keys that float about like specks of dust over a breeze.
According to Kester, “Long Dark Sleep” is partially based on a scene from Michel Faber’s The Crimson Petal and the White. “In this particular scene, the main character, Sugar, a Victorian prostitute, reflects on her longing for a good, dreamless sleep,” Kester explains. “The kind that separates one day from the next, hoping the next day will be better. Her longing resonated with me and inspired me to write lyrics. At that time, I also felt like experimenting more with lyrics and songwriting/song structures in general.”
Kester cut up the lyrics, while her co-producer and writer Marien Dorleijn, also frontman of indie rockers Moss, helped create a structure based on what’s happening in the music, rather than shaping lyrics to signify a chorus. “That’s why this song feels almost like a spell to me,” Kester continues. “Where you’re forever stuck between a longing for a dreamless sleep and the moment you’re in bed waiting for sleep to set in – distracted by sounds you might hear during half-sleep: imagined whimperings from someone else in an adjacent room or the real sound of hail against a slanted roof.”
With the release of the song, Robin Kester has announced a slew of live shows, including two dates supporting Jane Weaver this coming September in Paris (at La Boule Noire, on the 16th) and Berlin (at Kantine Berghain, on the 20th).
Watch the music video for “Long Dark Sleep” below, and find the song on streaming platforms.
