Raw & aching, Perth’s Joan & The Giants have today stepped forth with their haunting new track ‘Sleep Alone’. Covering feelings of unrequited passion & love, alongside motifs of longing, loneliness & fleeting memories ‘Sleep Alone’ is the band at their most challenged & vulnerable.
Building with singer Grace Newton-Wordsworth’s smokey & velvety voice atop a reverberating piano stanza, ‘Sleep Alone’ grows into a hook-driven rock-ballad with a vibrant & pulsating rhythm section throughout. Joan & The Giants have undoubtedly created an anthem for all those working through spurned feelings or despondency.
Starting life on an acoustic guitar, Joan & The Giants constructed ‘Sleep Alone’ from just the bare-bones of instrumentation; more reminiscent of a country-ballad than the alternative-pop heater heard today.
Once the band was added, it grew to become larger than the initial output, with producer Dylan Ollivierre (Meg Mag, Tia Gostellow, Holy Holy) partnering with the band to guide its progression. He was able to keep the band in check & push them to complete the song; having full faith in Grace Newton-Wordsworth’s sad & haunting message.
Acclaimed engineer Ryan Mill (Tones & I, Angus & Julia Stone, Thelma Plum) went on to mix the track, with mastering by William Bowden (Children Collide, Empire of The Sun).
“Sleep Alone’ is about feeling attached to someone that doesn’t make you feel appreciated or seen. You feel like you’re running in circles, canceling plans, waiting up for a message – all for someone who doesn’t really care. Then when they are there, it can also feel so good it’s suffocating, like it haunts the spaces you live in. The scent on the pillows, the memories that creep in the spaces around you. This song is about wanting someone so much, it’s toxic and you’d rather not sleep than sleep alone longing for someone’s touch. I love the references to the hauntings, burying secrets in a graveyard, the morgue – it all feels heavy, which is exactly what it felt like to write this song about real moments in time.”
Grace Newton-Wordsworth, Joan & The Giants
Coinciding with the release of ‘Sleep Alone’ & in celebration of previous single ‘Cool Kid’ as well, Joan & The Giants will be heading out on their first ever headline tour; their debut East Coast dates as well.
Starting in Newcastle on July 5th, the band then traipses up & down the coast, hitting Sydney, Wollongong, Brookvale, Alexandria, Melbourne & Mornington, before heading back west, to play four shows across WA’s Bunbury, Busselton, Dunsborough & Perth.
Led by frontwoman Grace Newton-Wordworth, Joan & The Giants have been captivating audiences with their distinctive alternative-pop sound since 2019.
With beginnings from longtime collaborators Grace & Aaron Birch, they both connected from their unique backgrounds & upbringings. Grace Newton-Wordsworth from her farm life & strict Christian up-bringing in South WA (unable to share her sexuality with her friends or family) & Aaron Birch from a remote indigenous community in the Kimberley. Fittingly, ‘Sleep Alone’ has ripples of the childhood angst & sadness throughout the song.
“I loved most of my childhood, but there were definitely some difficult times where I felt quite trapped in my body – I grew up in a loving but intense Christian home and while I still hold onto a lot of the core kind values, there were some parts of my childhood experience that were incredibly suffocating. I spent years hiding my sexuality, and parts of myself that I still struggle to be open with. The line “You take me back to when I was a kid, begging for someone to save me. It leaves me frozen, trapped in the morgue again” – I feel like sometimes relationships can bring a lot of sadness to the surface of things you’ve been holding onto your whole life. When you finally meet someone who you open up to, a lot of wounds can be opened with that.”
Grace Newton-Wordsworth, Joan & The Giants
At present date, Joan & The Giants have amassed a loyal & fevered following across Australia; with 500,00+ streams across DSP’s & previous support from Spotify (Fresh Finds AU & NZ). Radio were quick to support the band too with triple j premiering previous single ‘Home Song’ & supporting with triple j airplay & triple j Unearthed for a slew of previous releases.
Community Radio came aboard with their 2022 debut EP, seeing it spend 3 months in the Top 10 Metro Community Radio Charts. Recently, Joan & The Giants won WA Music Award for ‘Best Lyrics’ on their single’ The Weekend’, with 2023 nominations for ‘Best Rock Song’ & ‘Outstanding Indigenous’. The band has also toured & shared stages with the likes of Eskimo Joe, Winterbourne, Caravana Sun, Didirri & more.
JOAN & THE GIANTS ‘COOL KID // SLEEP ALONE’ TOUR’
Wed 5th July Hamilton Station Hotel Newcastle
Thurs 6th July Royal Hotel Bondi
Fri 7th July Towradgi Beach Hotel Wollongong
Sat 8th July Bucketty’s Brewery Brookvale
Sun 9th July Yulli’s Brews Alexandria
Wed 12th July The Retreat Brunswick
Fri 14th July The Espy Basement St Kilda
Sat 15th July Gods Bandroom Mornington
Sun 16th July Post Office Hotel Coburg
Fri 21st July Froth Brewery Bunbury
Sat 22nd July Hally’s Bar Busselton
Sun 23rd July Clancy’s Fish Pub Dunsborough
Sat 5th August The Bird Perth