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“When You Sleep” is track five on MBV’s 1991 album Loveless. The album’s sound was dominated by the ideas of lead vocalist and guitarist Kevin Shields, who wrote this entire song.
“When You Sleep” was also the first single from the album, released in November of 1991.
After 11 or 12 takes, the singer decided the vocals would be difficult to get perfect, resulting in the layered, almost muddled effect we hear in the final recording.
Shields also claims that they “spent way more time on the lyrics than ever on the music”. The words were often written in late-night eight to ten hour-long sessions before the pair were due to record the vocals. Shields said, “There’s nothing worse than bad lyrics.”
With a guitar base that places an emphasis on tremolo-bar usage and a desire to keep the vocals lower in the overall mix, My Bloody Valentine created a perfect example of the shoegaze rock sub-genre.
Also, even though it sounds like Shields is singing this one with Butcher, he actually sings it alone.
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