These guys are fascinating. If you haven’t heard of Sleeping Lion, please allow me to introduce you to the purveyors of all your mellow electronica and future-bass needs. Describing themselves as a lurid indie pop duo, Nate Flaks and Noah Longworth McGuire formed nearly three years ago when they were roommates in Boston and composed their early songs remotely via Skype when Longworth McGuire was living in Italy and Flaks was based in New York.
“Stop It (Stripped)” is a striking, vulnerable song about the breakdown of a relationship, co-written by Nate Flaks and his then – about to be ex-girlfriend, Abby Carey; the two people entangled in it at that very moment. The vocals on this track are so beautifully exposed that it leaves you feeling something of a voyeur as you immerse yourself in the melancholy of the seemingly inevitable demise of their affair.
The original version of this song was released in the spring and was hugely popular online, with Spotify featuring on its “Chill Vibes” and “Electronic Vibes” playlists, and so far it has garnered over 650,000 streams across various platforms. What this version of the track loses in electronica, it gains greatly in the addition of guitar, piano and strings, with some stunning pizzicato delicately placed to highlight the comparative minimalism of the verses. With each pull of the devastatingly beautiful chorus, you can’t help but feel increasingly invested in the emotions of these two people as they drift away from one another for good.
Sleeping Lion’s debut EP, ‘Patient Creature‘, was released in the summer of 2016 and Stop It
(Stripped) is out now.
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