Stellan Wahlström Drift Band’s new release The Sleeper – A Live Collection stitches together decades of performances into one immersive document, offering a rare window into the band’s evolution from New York clubs to Stockholm’s literary salons. Rather than a typical live album, it feels like a curated time capsule with intimate rooms, shifting lineups, and songs that reveal new textures when played in front of an audience.
It fittingly opens with “The Sleeper,” recorded at Arlene’s Grocery in New York with a special ensemble featuring Billy Ficca of Television, Jason Victor of The Dream Syndicate, and Patrick Derivaz of Tom Verlaine’s band. The track unfurls slowly, with melodic guitars playing low and clean before growing fuzzier at the edges. Soft drums steady the pulse while Wahlström sings in a hushed lower register, delivering a slow burn, like it belongs in a shadowed corner of Manhattan at 2 a.m. His voice drifts through lines about longing and hunger, and waiting for nightfall, giving the performance a confessional glow.
Later recordings from Stockholm shift the atmosphere entirely. “And I Was Finally Sleeping” and “Hotel Continental” stretch into slow-flowing psychedelic versions, saturated with Fender Rhodes warmth and phaser-drenched guitar. They move like city lights reflected in rain, hazy, unhurried, and full of drifting mood. A standout moment comes with the piano-led “An Old Monk in an Ambassador in the Rain,” performed at the revered Rönnells bookstore, where the band leans into literary stillness and space.
An acoustic throwback to “The Paying,” performed with singer-songwriter Amy Madden in a tiny East Village club, brings gentleness and intimacy. Wahlström sings softly, almost conversationally, as melodies whirl in and out like passing memories.
Everything ends with a rowdy energy with the live cover of “Let Me Play With Your Poodle,” rescued from an old cassette recorded at Stockholm’s Cavern-like club Kaos. It bursts open with thumping drums, slapping cymbals, and rollicking guitar, Wahlström belting with loose, infectious charm.
Across these snapshots, The Sleeper – A Live Collection captures the Drift Band’s full arc, from gritty NY stages to atmospheric Stockholm sets, proving how their modern big-city folk rock finds new life every time it’s played for a room ready to listen.
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Review by: Naomi Joan