Hotly-tipped Kildare four-piece Blue Slate share their captivating debut EP This is how I sleep at Night today, including focus track ‘Lead us into Temptation’.
The band—John Harney (vocals, guitar), Pierce Devine (guitar), James Hargreaves (bass) and Tim Tora (drums)—are releasing the project via Blowtorch Records, a label known for working with some of Ireland’s most promising young bands, including Adore, Search Results and Virgins.
This is how I sleep at Night explores the past two years of the band members’ lives since Blue Slate formed in autumn of 2022, but their roots go much further back than that. Harney and Devine first met as kids, bonding over their matching Brian Jones-style haircuts and hours spent listening to Harney’s older siblings’ vast CD collection—everything from metal to classic rock, KISS to Nirvana, ‘60s to ‘90s.
It’s no wonder, then, that Blue Slate’s debut EP is so rife with sonic references, while also solidly defining the band’s raw, yearning sound. The title track draws inspiration from the Velvet Underground as Harney sings about body dysmorphia: “I look in the mirror / Something’s wrong to see.” ‘Beaker’ documents a claustrophobic relationship, and the analog tube amps used while recording evoke the likes of Sparklehorse and Grandaddy. Both ‘Marina Del Rey’ and ‘Lead us into Temptation’ ruminate on substance abuse—the former of which is named for where Dennis Wilson drowned during his own struggles with alcoholism. The EP closes on the vulnerable ‘Charlotte’s Song’ (featured as Dan Hegarty’s Track of the Week on RTÉ 2fm), which seamlessly blends New Wave wistfulness and rich, shoegaze textures.
This is how I sleep at Night track list
1. This is how I sleep at Night
2. Beaker
3. Marina Del Rey
4. Lead us into Temptation
5. Charlotte’s Song
Blue Slate’s mesmerising live shows and impressive singles earned them a spot on the ever-exclusive Hot Press “Hot for 2024” list. The genre-defying rockers have played across Europe, including in London, Paris and at Rotterdam’s Left of the Dial festival. Blue Slate cemented their status as one of the most promising up-and-coming bands in Ireland when they played a sold out headline show in The Workman’s Club upon returning from London. They have also supported the likes of the UK’s Big Special.
With the Irish music scene more prolific than ever, it takes true talent to be heard over all the noise. Blue Slate not only set themselves apart, but make it look easy thanks to their effortlessly infectious, guitar-driven hooks and piercing lyricism.