Sleeping Through Breakfast - 'Ghosts & Gardens'

Media, PA-based duo Sleeping Through Breakfast showcases a serene, DIY sonic journey on new album Ghosts & Gardens. Melding dreamy piano, moving guitars, and vibrant orchestral swells, the album utilizes vivid nature imagery to explore personal freedom, reclaiming identity, and breaking past societal constraints.

The delightful “If You’re Dreaming…” opens the album with lushly absorbing atmospherics, blending twinkling piano, soft acoustic strums, and resonating lyricism — moving from the beckoning “go out to the garden, cover yourself up with soil” imagery to “your time is coming soon” anticipation. The various depictions, from a tear falling down one’s cheek to sleeping beside a creek, are nature-friendly and visceral in both their emotional and scenic trajectories.

“Eden / What a Time to Be Alive” ensues with similar thematic appreciation for simply existing, here conveying a daydream-awakening catharsis and daring to do something more than simply spending a life “kissing ass.” Clapping rhythms and more electric tones delight alongside. The opening one-two punch consumes with strongly melodic flair and lyrical ruminations on personal freedom, embracing the freedom of outdoor frolicking and daring to venture beyond societal expectations. A lovely piano emphasis around midpoint drives into twangy guitars for an especially enveloping moment.

Another standout track, “The Garden” furthers the outdoor imagery with a foreboding “bury me in the garden” proclamation, stirring amidst haunting pushes of vibrant piano, resonant guitars, and string-laden fervency. The second half, with its perspectives on feeling “like a kid again,” invigorates with a swelling orchestral passion into a drive to “find my way back there again.” Resembling a personal journey to reclaiming one’s identity and purpose, Ghosts & Gardens is a fully immersive success from Sleeping Through Breakfast.