While many Londoners feel that winter is coming, it will be nothing compared to the subzero temperatures Canada will experience. For the Canadian band Wintersleep, it was only one last show, one last autumnal sleep in Europe before their return home.

It was in a sold-out show at The Lexington, by King’s Cross in London, that the five musicians from Wintersleep, an indie rock band with some folk influences, finished their one-month European tour. Making a shy entrance to the stage on a pre-recorded instrumental intro, they started their show with ‘Lifting Cure’, a song from their new album, The Great Detachment.

The crowded audience at The Lexington only needed a few notes to start dancing and cheering and breathing in the great musical atmosphere Wintersleep was setting up.

Sipping from their tea-cups between songs, the band played a setlist combining titles from their current and past records, which pleased the London audience who knew the lyrics to all songs.

Towards the middle of the set, lead singer Paul Murphy changed his electric guitar for an acoustic one, which made the audience hold their breaths in high expectations. In the silent venue, after a few seconds of great excitement, a couple of acoustic notes resonated making the crowd cheer. The pressure was released as one of the band’s well-known songs was being performed: ‘Weighty Ghost’.

The band and the crowd dancing in one unique move, exchanging smiles and laughs, and creating unforgettable memories; that moment marked the creation of an unbreakable connection present in the room, which would last until the end of the show.

After performing more titles from The Great Detachment including ‘Metropolis’ and ‘Amerika’, Wintersleep finished the performance with ‘Miasmal Smoke & The Yellow Bellied Freaks’, a song from their 2007 album Welcome To The Night Sky.

In a last breath, the band promised to announce a new date for London in the near future, before having to break the connection they had created with the audience and finish the show. It was then time to go home and enjoy a great night of sleep, which starts to feel like a cold winter sleep.

Emilie Herman
@EmilieHrrmnn