Two Bears in a Record Store

Placebo - Sleeping With Ghosts  

The April 2003 release of ‘Sleeping with Ghosts’ by indie superstars Placebo is probably going to raise a few eyebrows when suggested as an album of the month. It’s mine because it’s the album that sucked me into Placebo. The melody, the tones, the way the music fits together, the atmosphere – it’s all dark yet polished and unforgettable.  

The album has more shades of electronica then any Placebo album before. Perhaps this is reflecting the darker edgier subject matter that the band/ singer is trying to deal with, or possibly trying to see situations as clear-cut when really they are trickier and more difficult then first examined.  The stand out track must be the title track ‘Sleeping with Ghosts’. It’s a eerie almost acoustic/electronic track about a tale of loss and comfort with deep synth’s ringing out but still retaining a authentic placebo-esque sound.  ‘Bulletproof Cupid’ is a blitzing opener that opens the ears and preparing them for the experience ahead.  ‘English Summer Rain’ is another of the stand out tracks on the album; the fusion of synths and guitars is perfected again with both complementing and emphasising the other. The atmosphere that oozes from this track to me anyway hopefully to you guys too creates a feeling that you could easily be in the middle of a muddy (or dry field for those not in the UK) Placebo in front of you and rain drenching every bit of your body. 

Memories like these are the crux of the album as Moloko mentions in an interview “For me it's about the relationship that you have with your memories. They inhabit your dreams sometimes. There can be a lot in the future that's gonna remind you of the ghost of relationships past. So I see the album as a collection of short stories about a handful of relationships. Most of them mine.”

This revealing and enthralling collection of songs creates an album for me that I’ll be forever grateful for introducing me to Placebo, and this is one of my favourite albums of the 2000‘s

Till next time

VB!