Dearly Departed Dreams
‘Dearly Departed Dreams’ (2023) by Sleepy Seahorse, is an album of new recordings of old songs. Different versions of every song on this album have appeared on various projects over the years. In case you ever want to go on a S. Seahorse deep dive (lol), here’s the history:
This Illusion: The music is over 20 years old. Started out as a song called “The One Who Makes Everything Harder” on an album called ‘The Ted E. Ruxpin LP’ circa 2001. Only the same guitar parts remain. Everything else was written in 2019. A much busier version is part of the 2021 album ‘Awkward Obscure & Unpopular.’
Part Of The Show: Kind of the same story as “This Illusion”… Guitar parts have been around since circa 2002-ish, with various different lyrics for a few failed re-vamps. A busier version is part of ‘AO&U' (2021).
Algorithms: One of my favorite of my songs. A possibly superior version is on 2018’s ‘Shellfish Ambition.’ But I wanted to do a more straightforward version for this album.
Doesn’t It Seem: Used to be a Sleepy Seeds song called “Haven’t You Seen?,” which appeared on 2009’s ‘Hollow Notes,’ and was the subject of Jason Sievers’s first non-animated music video. The music here is basically the same, but the lyrics are completely different. The new lyrics are about losing my friends and being shut out of the music scene in Boise circa 2019.
Follow: I think this is the first official Sleepy Seahorse song. Written in 2011 at the tail-end of Sleepy Seeds’s first run, and appeared on a self-titled album that year. For whatever reason, I never tried to re-vamp it in Sleepy Seeds, despite it being a “full-band song.”
Wrong Side Of Bed: Circa 2009 Sleepy Seeds song. Appeared on 2010’s album ‘Fainting Goats.’ Changed up the lyrics a bit for this version.
Rabbit Holes: This is the newest song to get another version, as it was the last song written for the second version of ‘AO&U.’ I was simultaneously writing and recording it, which I liked, but I wanted to do a more refined recording of it to match the sound of this album.
Nightmares: This song has been around since 2011 as an instrumental, but the lyrics and vocals are new, which in a way makes this the only true new song on this album.
You can listen to ‘Dearly Departed Dreams’ on Spotify by clicking the big box above, and you can listen and/or download it at sleepyseahorse.bandcamp.com