Darling West - While I Was Asleep
Darling West are at the forefront of nordic americana.
Darling West experienced a spectacular breakthrough in their musical career after the release of their second album, «Vinyl and a Heartache» in 2016. They were awarded a Norwegian Spellemann award (equivalent of Grammy), listed on Norway’s biggest radio channels and appeared on the Top 100 Country charts in the US. They have played shows all over the world – among the highlights are several of Norway’s biggest festivals, SXSW in Texas, Americanafest in Nashville, Folk Alliance in Kansas City, a tour with Sam Outlaw and a support slot for Lucinda Williams. Those are many highlights. They have also had several million plays on Spotify, appearing in several influential playlists.
Always ambitious and restless, the band didn’t rest on their acquired laurels. Contrarily, they headed straight into the studio to record the follow-up to «Vinyl and a Heartache». Darling West’s third album, the self-produced «While I Was Asleep», contained ten new songs, and was released worldwide February 16th, 2018.
“When it comes to Darling West, the music streamers do seem to have undergone a rare attack of good taste, because “While I Was Asleep” is marvellous.”
Although they have added drums, the band stays true to their sound and still plays the sweet americana/country/folk they are known for. Moreover, the new album demonstrates a revitalized Darling West, with more drive in the music and even catchier melodies than before – who would have thought that was even possible?
Darling West’s career continues to be on the up, and 2018 promises to be their biggest year so far. Preceding the album release is a visit to the Eurosonic music festival in the Netherlands and the release of the album’s fourth single, «Loneliness». A visit to Folk Alliance in Kansas City coincided with the album release date, and provided a fitting arena for the launch of «While I Was Asleep». So far the album has received raving reviews from Uncut Magazine, Greil Marcus in Village Voice Classic Rock Magazine, Folk Radio UK, Belwood Music, Americana Highways and many more.
INFO
Darling West - While I Was Asleep
Art. no: JANSEN097
Release date: February 16th, 2018
Tracklist:
1. After My Time
2. Rolling On
3. Loneliness
4. Better Than Gold
5. Always Around
6. While I Was Asleep
7. Traveller
8. Ballad of an Outlaw
9. Don’t I Know You
10. How I Wish
SINGLES
While I Was Asleep - released June 23rd, 2017
After My Time - released June 23rd, 2017
Traveller - released October 13th, 2017
Loneliness - released January 12th, 2018
Buy Darling West’s We’ll Never Know Unless We Try
Photo by Audun Selnes
