Like those strange walking tree creatures in The Lord of the Rings film, this lp from Burnley's Rob Ashworth (AKA Neon Sleep) combines natural, organic grace with weird and wonderful computer wizardry. The 21-year-old's mellow vocal and acoustic guitar prowess establish some fine singer/songwriter credentials, but this is combined with swathes of dark synths and general electronic weirdness to create a thrilling combination of Gary Numan and Grandaddy. 


The ambient folk of "The Lights In This Town Are Faded," "You Left Boundaries" and "Hope In Your Nightmares" glow with masterfully commanded acoustic guitars, lilting pianos and lyrics of melancholic romance. And, as he demonstrates on "Stare, A Time To Think, A Time To Ponder" with a lyric about being "more than just a flea on the belly of life," any tendencies towards self-pity are kept entertaining with a colourful turn of phrase. 


However, as the simple spiralling jazz chords of the second track, "Eighteen More Times" fade out, we soon hear the other side of the Neon Sleep coin. "Settle This Mess" is a lively exchange of chiming keyboards and primordial static fuzz. The following "Apres Moi Le Deluge" combines stout strumming with fat '80s synths and "Settle On Me" is a blitzkrieg of mechanised electronic madness. It's like your gas boiler and laptop ganging up on you in the middle of the night. 


Transition abounds at every turn on this lp. On "Sheboygan Velvet," reversed effects give way to delicate digitised atmospherics before unleashing a chugging fury. The track has all the beat-driven drama of The Cooper Temple Clause or Kasabian, but it's on "This Theatre Burnt Down Before You Were Born" that things get critical. Vinyl pops and crackles veil a fractured guitar, then we descend into the kind of whispered vocals and noise terror you might get from Nine Inch Nails in a particularly bad mood. Or a bunch of life sentence prisoners performing something by Andrew Lloyd Webber. 


Scary and sensitive, cosy and claustrophobic, 'Endormi Et Rever' showcases an individual voice and a unique talent. Depending on the track, Neon Sleep has the power to send you bed with a smile on your face or make you soak your mattress by midnight.
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