New Music: Brooklyn Doran – Sleep Alone

The initial premise of Sleep Alone and Brooklyn Doran’s Sleeping Dogs EP might seem unusual on paper. Trust me though, it works.

Ontario-based Doran is a queer indie and folk referencing singer-songwriter who looked to find another route to express her personal and, in the case of Sleep Alone, no-frills way of tackling complex feelings, finding their core essence. She gets right to the point: so much of the song’s story is summed up in the title.

However, Doran equally has a way with words and imagery, that’s for sure. The couplet ‘like a razor blade / your truth is just as hard to swallow’ is an image so visceral and impactful that when I first heard it, it sent a shiver of shock through me. Equally, the sound of the song and its parent EP might strike listeners as unusual, but it keeps the best of its influences, moving and melodic.

“[Sleeping Dogs] was born out of a collaboration with Jaye Schwarzer,” says Doran. “He and I had committed to writing together after a few long tours where we would spend hours talking about music, books, art, and life. It felt like a good fit to try to marry the two worlds of folk and hardcore, and what resulted was something that sounds nothing like either genre!”

Head to Bandcamp to pick up the EP, which comes as part of a physical ‘zine’ titled Sad Lesbian Songs, Vol 1. Sleeping Dogs. You can hear Brooklyn Doran’s music on Spotify and SoundCloud – for artist news and other listening options, make your way to Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok.

Header photo by Kodie North